Our nation and the Republicans would be better served if instead of attempting to repeal the Affordable Care Act (aka Obama Care) they would introduce legislation that fixes the worse parts of the law: (1) Instead of fining Americans who do not purchase health care insurance, establish a tax break incentive for Americans who purchase health care insurance. Require health care insurers to provide their subscribers with an IRS developed form that would serve as proof that they are entitled to tax incentive. (2) Allow small businesses and individuals to purchase health insurance with pre-tax dollars, as large businesses do. (3) Offer refundable tax credits to lower-income families and individuals, enabling them to purchase health insurance. (4) Allow the sale of health insurance across state lines. That would provide competition against statewide insurance oligopolies and decrease insurance premiums in many states. (5) Allow Small Business Health Plans (SBHPs), formerly called Association Health Plans, to purchase health insurance for their members or self-insure. Federal law allows such plans for large companies and labor unions. (6) Expand Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) and consumer driven health care plans (CDHC) by allowing higher deductibles and HSA contributions. Eliminate “Explanation of Benefits” for routine care. Expansion of CDHC will reinforce each of the reforms recommended above. HSAs control costs and are popular across the entire economic spectrum. (7) Apply true medical liability reform, which is opposed primarily by plaintiffs’ attorney organizations and the politicians they support. We’ve already seen the benefits of these reforms in states such as Texas. (8) Provide for a new, lower cost, high deductible option called the Copper Plan (in addition to the existing Platinum, Gold, Silver and Bronze-level options in the marketplace). This step will give consumers more control over their own coverage, spur competition and, most importantly, increase affordability. (9) Restore startup funds for new consumer-driven health insurance cooperatives, now operating in 23 states. This will allow families to have more options to access health coverage beyond traditional insurance companies, infusing state marketplaces with more competition to reduce average premiums. (10) Ease the transition for employers, by providing for an expansion of the option for voluntary coverage for employers with fewer than 100 employees, about 98 percent of all businesses. This will enable small and mid-sized businesses to make their own choices for their businesses, and employees can shop for coverage on the individual marketplace. (11) Make the small business health care tax credits available for a longer period of time and accessible to more employers so that small businesses can spend less time and money worrying about coverage for their employees. Expanding the current tax credits to include businesses with fewer than 50 employees—instead of the current cap at 25 employees—would provide a real benefit to hundreds of thousands of small businesses and allow them to offer quality coverage to recruit and retain talented employees. These are just a few steps that could be taken to fix the Affordable Care Act.
Posted on: Thu, 06 Nov 2014 22:45:13 +0000
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