As I have pointed out earlier, despite promising to repeal Obamacare for the last six years, now that they are in control, the GOP has no idea how to rid our nation of this horrendous law. So here is how Obamacare can be replaced.
According to president Trump, any replacement mus botht
- Not result in anyone losing coverage for one minute, and
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Cover those with preexisting conditions
Despite what the media would have you believe, there is a replacement proposal which would achieve all of these items without requiring a mandate imposed by the Federal government, forcing people to unwillingly enter into private contracts.
At the heart of this replacement is medicair. Medicair should be expanded to cover all Americans, instead of being exclusively available to those over 65 or those receiving social security payments.
Before conservative’s heads explode over me adopting an idea from socialist sanders, my medicair expansion would not be offered for free to those under the age of 65. Unlike Karl Marx’s grandson Bernie, I know nothing is truly for free. Instead, people who wish to be covered by medicair and who are under 65 should have to pay a monthly premium and deductible as they would for an insurance policy from the private sector.
You will notice I used the phrase “those who wish” to be covered. People would not be required to purchase a medicair health policy. In fact, there would be no mandate requiring people to purchase insurance at all. The mandate can be repealed.
The obvious question is how will we avoid free riders aka those who wait to purchase insurance until they become sick? Easy. Anyone who fails to purchase health insurance, either through a private sector or a medicair policy, will, if they become sick, be unable to have their medical bills discharged in bankruptcy.
Currently, despite the claims of millions losing their homes from unpaid medical bills, anyone who finds themselves under water from unpaid bills can file bankruptcy. In doing so, their medical bills can be erased. The legal term is discharged. However, not all debts are able to be discharged in bankruptcy. Student loan debt is one painful example. As such, people are actually having their social security retirement checks garnished to satisfy decades old student loan debt. The point is, unpaid debt that cannot be discharged in bankruptcy eventually gets paid no matter how long it takes. The same should apply for the medical bills of those who roll the dice and choose not to purchase a health insurance policy.
So, the free rider problem has now been solved. See how easy that was main stream media? It was so easy, even a blind guy saw how to do it.
Medicair won’t be able to discriminate based on gender, age, or preexisting conditions. So, those with preexisting conditions will be covered without unconstitutionally mandating what services private corporations must offer, as the government is empowered to do in Obamacare.
So far we have removed the need for a mandate while also insuring coverage for those with preexisting conditions, an impossibility according to the media.
As a person with a preexisting condition, mine being Glaucoma, maintaining coverage for the sick and disabled is a crucial element to any Obamacare replacement.
I have no doubt some conservatives will holler about the danger of establishing a socialized single payer healthcare system by opening up medicair for all. But, that concern is unwarranted. People would have the choice whether to purchase a medicair policy or a private sector policy. Choice is at the very heart of the concept of conservatism. Whether our nation ends up with a single payer system, will under this plan, be a decision made by the people where it belongs. If private sector insurers offer value, people will be more than willing to be customers. The existence of USPS does not prohibit the existence of private sector competitors like UPS or FedEx. Likewise, the existence of medicair for all will not prevent the existence of a vibrant and robust private sector competing for available customers.
But, if insurers exclude those with preexisting conditions and discriminate against women or those who are pregnant, they will reduce the percentage of the population able to purchase their policies. Those people will take their business elsewhere. But, again, this is what we call choice.
Opening up state boundaries for competition is a good idea. Providing tax credits to people to purchase insurance is a fine policy. But, none of these ideas insure that those with preexisting conditions are covered, or that people won’t wait until they are sick to purchase insurance. The individual mandate was the big government top down approach democrats relied upon to resolve these issues. Instead, I prefer to rely upon consumer choice and free market competition.