the bill would allow people to use tax-favored health savings accounts to pay insurance premiums. This effectively creates a big new tax shelter that mostly helps people with high incomes
.. So this is still a bill that takes from the poor to give to the rich; it just does so with extra stealth.
.. So how does he address the two big problems with the original bill —
- savage cuts to Medicaid and
- soaring premiums for older, less affluent workers?
He doesn’t.
.. The most important change in the bill, however, is the way it would effectively gut protection for people with pre-existing medical conditions.
.. the new Senate bill gives in to demands by Ted Cruz that insurers be allowed to offer skimpy plans that cover very little, with very high deductibles that would make them useless to most people.
.. The main answer, I’d argue, is that what would happen if this bill passes — a big decline in the number of Americans with health insurance, a sharp reduction in the quality of coverage for those who keep it — is what Republicans have wanted all along.
.. the Republican elite considered and still considers people on Medicaid, in particular, “takers” who are effectively stealing from the deserving rich.
And the conservative view has always been that Americans have health insurance that is too good, that they should pay more in deductibles and co-pays, giving them “skin in the game,” and thus an incentive to control costs.
.. So what we’re seeing here is supposed to be the last act in a long con, the moment when the fraudsters cash in, and their victims discover how completely they’ve been fooled. The only question is whether they’ll really get away with it. We’ll find out very soon.
AEI: Improving Health and Health Care: An Agenda for Reform
Those Americans without access to employer coverage should be given a refundable, age-adjusted tax credit that is set roughly equal to the average tax break for an employer plan.
.. This rule would protect persons with preexisting conditions from being charged more, or denied coverage, based on their health status so long as they have not experienced long breaks in insurance enrollment
.. States could also boost insurance enrollment by assigning persons who are eligible for the tax credits but have failed to pick an insurance policy to a default insurance plan. The upfront deductibles for these insurance plans would be set as necessary to ensure the premiums for enrollment would be equal to the federal tax credit, thus ensuring no additional premium would be required from a person assigned to a default plan.
.. Reform of Medicaid must start with changing how the federal government pays for its share of total cost. The program should be divided into its two distinct subparts, one for able-bodied adults and their children and the other for the disabled and elderly.
.. Medicare’s rules for paying hospitals, physicians, and other service providers heavily influence how care is delivered to all patients, not just Medicare enrollees. The program would improve if there were fewer regulations and more emphasis on market-based reforms. The starting point should be conversion of the program, on a prospective basis, to a premium support model
.. HSAs should be a central component of health care in the United States. The accounts provide strong incentives for their owners to seek the best value for their health care purchases, and they provide a ready vehicle for providing additional protection against high medical expenses.
.. A comprehensive reform plan should also reform the health insurance benefit for federal employees so that it operates like a defined contribution program.
Principles for Reform
- Citizens, not government, should control health care.
- Government subsidies should come in the form of defined contribution payments.
- Move power and control from the federal government to individuals, families, and states.
- Suppliers of medical services must have more freedom to innovate and provide better services to patients and consumers.
- Reform must improve the federal fiscal outlook by reducing long-term health obligations.