Just last week, House Republicans released an Obamacare replacement plan. They are touting the legislation as “comprehensive healthcare reform.” But that label is a misnomer. The plan is not comprehensive, and it’s not even healthcare reform.
As a doctor, the basic elements of my medical practice didn’t change with the passage of the “Affordable” Care Act. I still meet with patients, look at their records, perform an examination and then design a treatment plan with them. The patient’s ability to obtain the treatment that I prescribe has changed. When they contact their insurance coordinator, they will often find out either that the service isn’t covered or that they haven’t fulfilled their out-of-pocket deductible.
The problem with Obamacare is that it’s not healthcare reform — it’s health insurance reform, and a terrible one at that.
I have seen patients fail to receive the care they need time and time again, as have countless other physicians across the country. Health insurance premiums skyrocketed by 25 percent last year. Eighteen out of 23 Obamacare nonprofit co-ops have failed. The federal government owes insurers $8 billion. This must stop and it must be replaced by a bill that will allow my patients to actually benefit from my diagnoses and prescriptions rather than only being frustrated by them.
Unfortunately, the House leadership’s legislation in its current form doesn’t do this. It takes some steps in the right direction by killing all of Obamacare’s taxes and expanding HSAs. But it doesn’t go far enough in creating a genuinely patient-centered alternative.
We see several major issues in the current plan. The first is that it essentially creates a new entitlement program through its refundable tax credit. Although the plan sets a certain limit above which you cannot receive tax credits, the amount of the credits have not changed from the amount allocated in Obamacare.
The second major problem is that the legislation allows states to continue enrolling in Medicaid until 2020. Medicaid has been well on its way to insolvency for years now, and allowing states to continue to enroll people will only expedite the program’s steady decline.
Lastly, while the legislation wisely gives states block grants for pre-existing conditions, $100 billion is well above what they need and what our nation can afford.
In order to create free-market, patient-centered healthcare reforms, Republicans must use this opportunity to push for several key policies. They must cut this new entitlement program and make the tax credits either non-refundable or only partly refundable so as to limit the fiscal damage. They must continue to expand HSAs, and scale back the block grants to states. Lastly, they should immediately freeze Medicaid and adopt common-sense plans, like Rep. Sam Johnson, R-Texas, has proposed to make Social Security solvent.
Most importantly, however, Congress should turn healthcare back over to the people by allowing individuals or groups to purchase plans. Obamacare’s core insight — that maintaining health insurance can be a disincentive to advancing one’s career or starting a new business — is completely true, but Obamacare’s one-size fits-all federal takeover doesn’t work.
If people can purchase their own insurance, shopping from competitive options across state lines, the portability and flexibility will grow our economy and give patients the final word about their own health and free them to move to a new company, a better position, or to start a new business.
The plan as it now stands is Obamacare Lite — not the wholesale replacement that our representatives promised us during their campaign. We must hold them accountable and make our voices heard. Our citizens and doctors are doing their best. It’s time for the federal government and insurance companies to do the same.
Adam Brandon (@adam_brandon) is a contributor to the Washington Examiner’s Beltway Confidential blog. He is president and CEO of FreedomWorks. Dr. Chad Mathis is managing partner of Alabama Bone and Joint Clinic in Pelham, Ala., and a 2014 congressional candidate for Alabama’s Sixth District.
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