A.G. Gancarski
Ron DeSantis says he’s ready to dramatically alter the Affordable Care Act.
That’s the good news for Republican voters who still want to turf so-called “Obamacare.”
The bad news?
Those voters will have to trust the 2024 presidential candidate, given that he says he’s not rolling out the proposal for “replacing Obamacare” for months.
“Well, we’re going to be working on, probably in the Spring, we will roll out a big proposal,” DeSantis said on “Meet the Press” Sunday.
By the time Spring starts, 20 nominating contests will have been completed, with five more slated for the first day of Spring on March 19. And the early contests — Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, and South Carolina — will be distant memories, raising questions as to why a health care plan takes nearly a year of an active campaign to formulate.
DeSantis suggested there are a lot of cooks in the kitchen, citing “a lot of input that that’s been coming in from a lot of good people around the country.”
“But we will be definitely be addressing insurance, definitely be addressing big government, and we will addressing big Pharma,” he vowed.
DeSantis has been leading Florida for nearly five years now, which Forbes notes has the fourth most expensive health care and highest private insurance costs of any state in the country. It also has the second highest proportion of any state’s residents struggling to pay their children’s doctor bills, the fifth highest likelihood of patients skipping a doctor’s visit because the cost was too high and the sixth greatest incidence of forgoing mental health treatment.
DeSantis says he will have “a plan that will supersede Obamacare that will lower prices for people so that they can afford health care,” which will ensure “that people with pre-existing conditions are protected.”
“And we’re going to look at the big institutions that are causing prices to be high, (such as) big Pharma, big insurance and big government,” he said. “But it’s going to need to be where you have a reform package that’s going to be put in place.”
If DeSantis is still running and releases his health care plan this Spring, it will be a version of history repeating. He released a health care plan during his 2018 gubernatorial campaign in late October, but the webpage has since been deleted from his campaign site.
In the plan, DeSantis vowed to protect coverage for those with pre-existing conditions, to offer better training and retention for nurses and other health care workers, to support seniors, bolster safety net hospitals, and fight opioid addiction.
A Democratic spokesperson at the time predicted “DeSantis’ ‘plan’ would put Floridians at risk by allowing them to be ripped off by ‘junk plans’ that offer coverage from big insurance companies in name only.”
18 comments
WhatNow
December 3, 2023 at 12:17 pm
So far he’s done NOTHING as governor to address any of the mentioned healthcare-related issues facing Floridians., certainly not to any serious or noticeable degree.
Tom
December 3, 2023 at 12:38 pm
Still trying to get rid of the affordable care act? Apparently, he has no idea how many people use and benefit from it – it’s a loser ronnie just like medicare and social security.
MH/Duuuval
December 3, 2023 at 2:20 pm
Correctamundo, Tom: 3,225,435 is the figure CMS reports for Floridians who chose Obamacare in 2023. Now, if all of them vote, hmm, eh, what?
There’s an estimated 800k who would be eligible for expanded Medicaid.
Earl Pitts "Political Scientist Emeritus" American
December 3, 2023 at 2:48 pm
This is what America wants and what will get The Ronald EIGHT STRAIGHT years in the White House.
Only thing we need to tweek is to forever drop “O” Care from our lexicon and replace it with the 100% better “RONALD CARE”.
Oh and BTW:
IF YOU LIKE YOUR DOCTOR YOU CAN KEEP YOUR DOCTOR.
Earl Pitts American
Earl Pitts American
rick whitaker
December 3, 2023 at 3:07 pm
CAUTION ⚠ INANE TROLL COMMENT BY EARL PITTS (fake name )
Earl's Nurse
December 4, 2023 at 11:13 am
Can someone do a dementia welfare check on Earl? Grandpa is off his meds again. What;s your license plate #, Earl? We can issue a Silver Alert.
rick whitaker
December 4, 2023 at 1:06 pm
earl’s nurse, for a better picture of the creep earl, go to Wikipedia and look up gary burbank . the info there tells his real name and a bio. he was a cornball radio character that specialized in redneck fake personalities. he is 82 years old and his real name is billy purser. as you can tell from his awful posts he thinks potty humor is funny. what a sad and useless person. wikipedia said his wife’s name is pearl, but she may be dead by now.
Earl Pitts "Transportation Scientist Emeritus" American
December 4, 2023 at 4:39 pm
Dont tell her which bar we hang out at together, Rick, she’s not my nurse, she’s just an x-wife trying to get my money.
Thanks Rick and there will be a little something extra in your paycheck for keeping her away from me, Earl Pitts American
Ocean Joe
December 3, 2023 at 12:46 pm
If health care for anyone other than the wealthy is left to Republicans there wont be any.
Michael K
December 3, 2023 at 12:47 pm
Hmmm. Someone else kept promising to repeal and replace Obamacare…
Funny how the holdout to Medicaid expansion in Florida is suddenly concerned about people’s health. With no specifics, of course. But he will be out of the race by spring…
PeterH
December 3, 2023 at 1:05 pm
I have forty acres and a mule on the market for $100 per acre adjacent to the Florida Everglades!
TJC
December 3, 2023 at 2:11 pm
What stands out in DeSantis’s statements is how it looks very much like he is lying through his teeth. He states that he will, definitely, replace Obamacare, then he says he and his people “will be working on” a plan, then says it will be presented in the Spring. He says when they get to work, they will be looking at the pharmaceutical giants, the major insurance companies, and the federal government. That’s a lot of work, an enormous amount of research, for a man who does not yet have a qualified team or perhaps even the legal ability to “look at” anything outside of Florida. He would have to put together a super-team of lawyers with expertise in all three areas, and they would have to initiate lawsuits against the Pharma and Insurance industries — because they’re not going to open their records willingly. It would be a years-long process.
Now, had he said he would do all that after becoming President, it would be easier to believe, because then he would indeed have all the resources he needs to investigate and analyze ways to improve health care in the U.S.
You know, like Obama did.
But he didn’t say he’d do it as President, he said he’d do it now, while he’s running for President. Which makes it sound very much like he is desperate for attention, anything to get around Nikki Haley and into second place.
rick whitaker
December 3, 2023 at 3:28 pm
TJC, thanks for giving me instances of desantis lying. now i know he’s a liar. oh, i forgot, i already knew that he was a serial liar.
Dale A Arnold
December 3, 2023 at 4:07 pm
Yeah.. He never cared about people or their health! He is the Governor of third most populated state in the United States and now he’s thinking about health care issues????
Obama thought about 14years ago and got the idea from Mitt and Republicans still didn’t like it.. Medicare for all!!!!
Joe
December 3, 2023 at 4:49 pm
I like that his inevitably naive and unpopular plan will have “scare” in it, lol.
David Martin
December 3, 2023 at 5:10 pm
Our governor’s political career seems to be winding down fast, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him step down to take a lucrative patronage job (like president of a state university). His promise to replace the Affordable Care Act is empty, while Florida’s handling of health care for its citizens (for whom Obamacare health insurance is extremely important) is a primary reason to live in some other state. The failure to expand Medicaid in a low-wage state is particularly galling.
Dr. Franklin Waters
December 3, 2023 at 10:12 pm
His plan will be: “Don’t get sick, but when you do, die quickly”
My Take
December 4, 2023 at 11:46 pm
. . . and quietly, and out of disturbing sight. If homeless, in an alley or patch of woods.
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