Christine Jordan Sexton
Florida Gov. Rick Scott wrote an op-ed for POLITICO advising President Obama that he should remodel the health exchange and allow low income people to establish individual savings accounts if the Supreme Court of the United States rules in King v. Burwell that tax subsidies on the federal exchange are illegal.
Florida did not establish its own health exchange under the federal health care law and there are 1.6 million Floridians using the health exchange to purchase Obamacare plans, according to federal data. That data also indicates that 90 percent of the Floridians who enrolled in the federal exchange are receiving tax subsidies.
Scott says Obama should remodel the exchange system so the $5 billion that currently is going to the 14 insurance companies in Florida that sell health plans on the exchange be redirected and instead given to the Floridians enrolled in the exchange.
That would translate to about $297 a month that people could put into individual health care accounts and then use the money to purchase what they want, not Obamacare plans that must have “essential health benefits.”
“To drive down healthcare costs, you simply need to increase competition. Today, there is very little competition within the federal exchange because there is only one person paying—the federal government (HHS). And, this single payer is deciding what plans to sell. We should let individuals decide how they want to spend their healthcare dollars. By setting aside the same amount of money the federal government is spending today in 1.6 million individual healthcare accounts, the President would move the purchasing power from one person, Uncle Sam, to 1.6 million low income people who can best make their own healthcare decisions. High income Americans get to select the healthcare that fits their needs. Shouldn’t the 1.6 million low income Floridians currently on the exchange be given the same right?”
Scott’s optional editorial was published by POLITICO on March 4.
