President-elect Trump named Rep. Tom Price, MD (R-GA) as the new secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. Price is a retired orthopedic surgeon, a former Georgia state legislator and most recently the Chairman of the U.S. House Budget Committee. He has been a member of Congress since 2005.

Health care reform has been a priority of Dr. Price since he arrived in Washington, D.C. He introduced a comprehensive bill in the 111 Congress (2009-2011) called “Empowering Patients First Act” and subsequently re-introduced it in the 112 and 113 sessions. (here) Liberals are totally mistaken when they claim that Republicans have never had a health care reform proposal.

This past year, Republicans released another reform plan called “A Better Way.” (here and here) This is another comprehensive plan, but the authors state that it is a starting point for debate and not a formal bill.

How do the two plans compare?

They are very similar on fundamentals:

• Repeal Obamacare.
• Continue the employer-paid health insurance model.
• Use an age-based refundable tax credit for individuals to purchase health insurance.
• Maintain the pre-existing condition insurance mandate.
• Allow purchase of health insurance across state lines to increase patient choices.
• Increase the use of high risk pools, funded by federal grants and controlled at the state level.
• Establish medical malpractice reform.
• Allow seniors to opt out of Medicare without losing their Social Security benefits. Allow seniors to use health savings accounts and receive the refundable tax credits to purchase insurance in the private market.
• Allow Medicaid recipients to opt out and use the refundable tax credits to purchase insurance in the private market.
• Increase the use of association health plans, especially for small businesses.
• Increase utilization of wellness and prevention programs.

The differences between the two plans are mostly in details, although Rep. Price’s bill addresses the economic distortion caused by employers paying for employee health insurance. Dr. Price would limit the employer contribution to $20,000 for a family and $8,000 for an individual. He would also allow employers to make pre-tax defined contributions to employees’ accounts.

The “A Better Way” proposal provides more detail on Medicaid reform. It suggests federal block grants to states with individual allotments, a work requirement, allow states to adjust the eligibility threshold, charge enrollees a small premium and use a transition mechanism to employer-paid insurance or to the individual market with refundable tax credits.

The most important point is that both plans have the goal of putting patients, not the government, in charge of their own health care. With the new Administration and with Rep. Price as the new secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, Americans have an excellent chance of receiving meaningful health care reform.