Mitch Perry
A major criticism that Democrats and members of the media have against Republicans critical of the Affordable Care Act is “What would you replace it with?”
In a post on Medium Monday morning, Jeb Bush attempts to answer that criticism by declaring that the fight against ObamaCare is nowhere near over, and says he has some “specifics” for its replacement.
“I was disappointed by last week’s Supreme Court ruling in the King v. Burwell case,” he writes. “But that decision is not the end of the fight against ObamaCare. This fatally flawed law imposes job-killing mandates, causes spending in Washington to skyrocket by $1.7 trillion, raises taxes by over a $1 trillion and drives up health care costs. Instead of fixing our health care system, it made the problems worse.”
Here are his prescriptions for a better health care system than the ACA. You can make up your mind on how specific they truly are:
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ObamaCare has proven that Washington cannot impose a one-size-fits-all fix for our health care problems. Instead, we should empower states to implement local, accountable solutions that work for their citizens.
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Having a pre-existing condition should not mean patients have to worry about keeping their coverage or getting the care they need. We need a conservative solution that works for those patients.
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I want to protect every American against catastrophic medical expenses — no one should lose their life savings due to an illness or accident.
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Health care should be more responsive and easier to navigate through transparency, innovation, and accountability in the health care system.
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Individuals should get tax relief for their premiums and their care. That will help make health coverage portable, helping Americans who change jobs or start their own businesses.
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We should also strengthen employers’ ability to offer more choices at lower costs. We need to make care more affordable for small businesses. This involves better data on prices and outcomes, flexibility for employers promoting wellness programs, and the ability to offer more innovative benefit designs.
Much of what Bush calls for is hardly controversial and something that seemingly most people would support. What’s left unsaid are the details. For example, what’s a “conservative solution” to ensure that people with pre-existing conditions don’t lose their coverage? He doesn’t say. The fact that under the Affordable Care Act patients cannot lose their insurance because of a pre-existing condition is probably the single most popular aspect of the entire bill.
And writing that health care should be “more responsive and easier to navigate through transparency, innovation and accountability in the health care system”? Is there anybody out there who doesn’t agree with that? Bush is surely correct is stating that we still lack such transparency with the Affordable Care Act.
As the former governor has recently said when asked about polls, “It’s only June!” So maybe he doesn’t have to have the specifics in place just yet, nearly a year before the party’s convention in Cleveland. But surely voters should demand specifics of all of the candidates who say they’ll repeal the now 5-year-old law that is providing health care coverage to the estimated 10-11 million people on the ACA.
