Republican Health Reform Proposals

Now that the Florida primary is over and we await super Tuesday, it’s time to look closely at health proposals of Republicans. Unlike Democrats, they’re turning to market rather than governmental solutions. Governor Romney, of course, led the effort in Massachusetts to create a universal solution requiring every individual to buy insurance, but he now says that solution applies only to Massachusetts and shouldn’t be applied to other states.

Republican candidates want more options for individuals. They would create new deductions or tax credits for health insurance. Lower income people would get subsidies to purchase private insurance.

People could purchase health insurance across state lines, and regulations and mandates would be reduced to make health insurance less costly. Reduced premiums would bring new buyers into the market, expand competition, and force insurers and providers to offer more affordable options.

Here’s what the surviving GOP presidential candidates are saying.

- John McCain: "It is good tax policy to take away the bias toward giving workers benefits instead of wages. It is good health policy to reward having insurance no matter where your policy comes from. To use their money effectively, Americans need more choices."

- Mitt Romney, "The federal government needs to loosen regulations on the nation's health-insurance providers, increasing competition and thereby lowering patient costs. The right answer is less government, less regulation, more individual responsibility, and more of the market dynamics that propel the rest of our economy."

- Mike Huckabee: "I advocate policies that will encourage the private sector to seek innovative ways to bring down costs and improve the free market for health-care services. We can make health care more affordable by making health insurance more portable from one job to another, and making health insurance tax deductible for individuals and families as it now is for businesses."
The Republican presidential candidates want to give people the same tax benefit whether they purchase a policy on their own or they get it at work. They don’t want insurance tied to the workplace. Nor do they want individual mandates requiring everyone to buy insurance as Senator Clinton proposes. Senator Obama supports a mandate for children to get health insurance but not everyone. "The reason Americans don't have health insurance isn't because they don't want it, it's because they can't afford it.”
Major candidates of both parties support:

- More prevention

- greater use of electronic health records

- more information for consumers on choices and prices

- better chronic-care management

- medical malpractice reform. (assuming John Edwards has been effectively eliminated from the race)

- more consumer choice and control over health insurance

Barring a sweeping Democratic victory in the fall with control of Congress and the presidency and a veto-proof majority, complete transformation of the health system is unlikely.