Republican Senators Pitch Obamacare Replacement for 2017

[Purveyor]

Republican U.S. senators opposed to Obamacare said the best alternative would be a narrower system of tax credits for Americans to buy health insurance without any of the mandates for people or companies to participate.

The proposal today by Senators Orrin Hatch of Utah, Richard Burr of North Carolina and Tom Coburn of Oklahoma is a response to criticism from President Barack Obama that Republicans have offered no credible alternatives to his $1.4 trillion expansion of the U.S. health-care system. The senators’ plan came with no estimate of its costs or a timetable for formal legislation.

Aides to the senators said they don’t expect any Obamacare replacement plan to be seriously considered by Congress before the next U.S. presidential election, which is more than two years away. In the meantime, they need to build a base for what that alternative may be, said Robert Blendon, a professor of health policy at the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston.

“There’s no way a Republican can run for president in 2016 without having a major health-care plan,” Blendon said in a phone interview.

The 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act known as Obamacare mandated an end to discrimination against people with pre-existing health conditions and required that all insurance policies this year meet minimum coverage rules in return for an obligation that most Americans obtain insurance or pay a fine. It also requires companies with 50 or more workers to offer “affordable” coverage by 2015 or pay a penalty.

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http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-01-27/republican-senators-pitch-obamacare-replacement-for-2017.html

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. Tax credits? Oh, that's just fuckin' brilliant.

This would help people who are too poor to pay federal taxes... how?

If all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail. If the only idea you have is cutting taxes, the only way to fix any problem is... cut taxes.

[JaneyVee]

2. Pre-existing discrimination, cut subsidies for mid class & poor, deregulate ins industry

How original.

[Kingofalldems]

3. Yeah medical savings accounts, vouchers, that's the ticket!

[Blue Idaho]

4. Same shitty ideas - different day...

These bozos have zero imagination and even fewer ideas that America wants so I tell you what, lets just give them the ACA since its largely a product of the Heritage Foundation anyway. That way they can claim the success and we can start working on single payer.