One of the most vociferous objections by Democrats to the Republican move to repeal Obamacare is that they have offered nothing substantive with which to replace the president’s failed health care policy.
But that criticism may be moot with a new plan being developed by Senate Republicans. Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT), Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, has joined two colleagues, Sens. Upton and Burr, in proposing a replacement plan they are calling Patient Choice, Affordability, Responsibility and Empowerment Act (P-CARE).
Those the plan has yet to evolve into a specific policy, the outline offers a number of key ideas. First, it would guarantee that Americans with pre-existing conditions would continue to get health care coverage, and the plan would continue to offer subsidies to low-income Americans.
Among the key contrasts with Obamacare is that the plan would eliminate the current mandates on required coverage which have contributed largely to skyrocketing insurance premiums under Obamacare.
Another key facet of the proposal would move Medicare expenditure from a direct pay system managed by the federal government to a block-grant system in which the states would be empowered to manage health care disbursements themselves.
Finally and probably most enticing about the proposal is that it aims at scrapping the mandate on Americans for coverage along with the taxes and fines imposed on those who do not obtain coverage.
