The
failure of ObamaCare's implementation continues to affect
Americans and galvanize Republican campaign efforts across
the country. Although Republicans have vigorously crusaded
against ObamaCare since its passage in 2009, few candidates
have made substantive, conservative health care reform
alternatives a key part of their repeal message, despite an
alternative supported by a majority of Republicans in the
House that has existed for almost a year. This
AMAC-supported bill, formally known as "The American Health
Care Reform Act" (H.R. 3121), is represented well in
Virginia Republican Senate candidate Ed Gillespie's own
proposal and enables consumers to buy insurance across state
lines, allows individuals the same access to tax credits
available only to employers, and expands access to Health
Savings Accounts (HSAs). Ed Gillespie's health care agenda
is the most detailed plan put forth by a Republican
candidate this year and is a prime example of how
conservative ideas can fix health care problems that
liberals have only exacerbated.
For years, Democrats
have presented voters with a false choice. They have told us
that we can either return to all of the problems with health
care before ObamaCare or embrace that law's assault on the
health care industry. Virginia Senator Mark Warner, for
example, alleges that his Republican challenger Ed Gillespie
"would take us back to the days when insurance companies
could deny coverage for pre-existing conditions, charge
women more than men for the same care and impose caps that
cut-off coverage just when you need it the most."
Gillespie's ambitious health care agenda, which is based on
a proposal by the 2017 Project, would in fact fix the
problems that have long beleaguered our system the most -
relieving Americans of the strenuous mandates that have left
us over-taxed, over-regulated, and over the cliff.
Gillespie's proposal saves taxpayers $1 trillion and offers
genuine reform that, unlike ObamaCare, addresses the root
issues that drive up costs and limit consumer choice.
Ed Gillespie's plan ends a distortion in our tax
policies that has greatly restricted the health care choices
of American workers. For over 70 years the current tax
incentives, made available only to businesses, have trapped
millions of consumers into the insurance of their employer
rather than the insurance of their choice. As the National
Federation of Independent Businesses (NFIB) has asserted:
Thanks
to this tax distortion and some related factor, the
individual health insurance market is small and relatively
uncompetitive. Employees with group insurance have little or
no motive to compare policies and to shift their purchases
toward policies that best fit their families' wishes. With
employees unable to shop around, insurers have less of a
motive to provide the insurance people want at prices they
can afford.
Under
Gillespie's plan, Americans up to 35 years of age would
receive a tax credit of $1,200 a year; those between 35-49
years of age$2,100 per year; and those 50 or over, $3,000
per year. Furthermore, those with dependent children would
get an additional $900 per child. Gillespie would end the
massive tax loophole for businesses and instead give these
tax credits to the American people to purchase the plan of
their choice.
Contrary to Warner's assertions,
Gillespie tackles the problem of preexisting conditions
without the heavy-handed regulations that have sent health
care premiums skyrocketing. His plan gives three windows for
purchasing insurance without paying more for preexisting
conditions: when parents purchase insurance for their
children within six months of birth, within six months young
adults dropping off of their parents' plan, or within two
months of losing access to the coverage of their employer if
they have held the coverage for over a year. His plan also
allocates $75 billion over ten years in federal funding for
state-run "high risk" pools for states to adequately aid
health care consumers who suffer from preexisting
conditions.
Gillespie's plan does a great deal to
lower costs across the board by expanding consumer choice.
Pursuant to this, Gillespie borrows from the AMAC-supported
American Health Care Reform Act and other conservative
proposals in expanding access to HSAs. If a family doesn't
use their full tax credit, they would be able to put the
balance in an HSA to cover future out-of-pocket expenses.
Additionally, a one-time tax credit of $1,000 per person
would be available for having or opening such an account.
Families would be free to add any additional funds they wish
into their HSAs.
Ed Gillespie's health care
announcement is one of the most promising developments of
this year's election cycle. The National Review's Ramesh
Ponnuru calls it "the best health-care plan of any
Republican candidate this year" and predicts that if enacted
"it would result in a much better-functioning market than we
have today or than we had before ObamaCare."
Earlier
this month Ed Gillespie addressed AMAC members in Richmond,
Virginia. In
his remarks, he addressed the systemic deficiencies of
ObamaCare and his desire to repeal and replace the
legislation. In the weeks since, he has offered much greater
detail on what that replacement should look like. His ideas
are entirely consistent with AMAC's values and embrace many
of the ideas for health care reform that AMAC has advocated.
As Election Day draws nigh, AMAC will continue to highlight
the failures of ObamaCare and urge voters to hold
accountable those who have forced it upon us. AMAC will also
continue to champion fiscally responsible health care
reforms to fix our broken system by unleashing the vast
potential of the free
market.
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