Trump’s choice for health secretary sends a clear message about his future plans for the Affordable Care Act (ACA), better known as Obamacare, as Price is tailored-made to dismantle and replace the plan, a feat he’s been striving to accomplish for the past six years.
Price, an orthopedic surgeon and six-term Republican congressman from Georgia, introduced his own legislation to repeal and replace Obamacare in the current Congress and three previous sessions. His plan, called the Empowering Patients First Act, was the basis for the “Better Way” agenda laid out by House Speaker Paul Ryan in June.
The secretary-elect’s main beef with Obamacare is that he believes it gives the government authority over the doctor-patient relationship.
“They {Democrats} believe the government ought to be in control of health care,” Price said in June. “We believe that patients and doctors should be in control of health care. People have coverage, but they don’t have care.”
Under the Empowering Patients First Act:
- Obamacare would be repealed;
- Policyholders would be offered age-adjusted tax credits for the purchase of individual and family health insurance plans;
- Incentives would be created for people to contribute to health savings accounts;
- States would be offered grants to subsidize insurance for “high-risk populations;”
- Insurers licensed in one state would be allowed to sell policies to residents of others, and
- Business and professional groups would be authorized to provide coverage to members through “association health plans.”
Price has said he’s not wedded to these ideas and is willing to compromise, so the final draft of the Empowering Patients First Act will likely be a hybrid of his proposals and Ryan’s Better Way plan. Still, with Price at the helm of the HHS, he would be the one with ultimate authority to dictate whatever legislation is eventually passed.
Source: The New York Times