"Ed Gillespie's Promising Health Care Agenda"
By Peter A. Finocchio |
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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| *This article is for informational purposes only and does not serve as an endorsement by AMAC. The Association of Mature American Citizens is a nonpartisan organization and does not endorse candidates or contribute financially to political action committees or campaigns. |
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