Jindal: Every presidential candidate needs to offer detailed health care plan

The Louisiana governor says he’s still weighing whether to run for the GOP presidential nomination, but he’s trying to distinguish himself from his potential opponents on one topic where there’s already broad agreement: repealing the Affordable Care Act.

Just like the other Republicans eyeing the White House, Jindal says he’d work to ditch the law if elected president. But he’s also the only one to introduce a detailed replacement plan — a fact he’s quick to note.

“To my knowledge, I’m the only candidate — or potential candidate — that’s actually offered a detailed plan,” Jindal said Thursday at a forum hosted by the Washington Examiner.

Jindal said other Republicans ought to do the same if they want to be viable candidates, suggesting that by failing to offer an alternative, they’re being less-than-forthcoming.

“I’m saying anyone thinking about running for president needs to get beyond the platitudes, bumper stickers and offer a detailed plan on health care,” he said, adding that they “need to be honest with the American people.”

For his part, Jindal is eager to say what he would do — and wouldn’t do — when it comes to health reform.

A year ago, he released a 26-page plan to repeal and replace the health care law. The proposal would eliminate the tax preference for employer-sponsored coverage, instead providing a deduction for individuals to buy their own coverage. It would also keep traditional Medicare but offer a premium support option, and turn Medicaid into a block grant program.

It’s that plan Jindal thinks Congress should pass on while everyone awaits a decision from the Supreme Court in the King v. Burwell case. In June, the court could strike the health law’s insurance subsidies in states relying on healthcare.gov instead of running their own marketplaces, which includes Louisiana.

If that happens, Jindal said he won’t try to transform Louisiana’s marketplace into a state-run exchange in order to keep the subsidies flowing — even though about 170,000 residents in his state are currently receiving them.

Jindal, who so far lags behind other Republicans in polls, insists that won’t harm him in a bid for president.

“I think the American people are smart enough to know we’ve got to get the private sector economy going again,” he said. “We’re not standing here saying we want to take something away. We want to give you something better.”

Some Republicans have proposed, and are still working on, interim plans to preserve the subsidies temporarily if the court blocks them, concerned about financial harm to low-income Americans currently receiving them.

But Jindal instead argued that Republicans should be repealing the law and passing an alternative in its place now — before the court even decides.