The Compromise "Fix" of Obamacare
The much awaited compromise Senate health care deal was finally revealed yesterday. (here) After the failure of the U.S. Senate to pass health care reform this session, the leading Republican and Democrat senators (Lamar Alexander, R-TN and Patty Murray, D-WA) on the committee responsible for health care (HELP) provided details of their compromise plan.
It is, at best, a short-term fix of Obamacare and doesn’t address many of the fundamental problems with the flawed law. The main features of the compromise are:
- Extends the cost-reduction subsidies for two years at an estimated cost of $20 billion.
- Allows the purchase of catastrophic health insurance plans by anyone, regardless of age.
- Provides over $100 million for Obamacare enrollment advertizing.
- Simplifies the state waiver process somewhat.
The idea, or hope, is that the Alexander-Murrray deal will provide short-term stabilization and that Congress will then take up meaningful health care reform in the next two years. Not unexpectedly, President Trump has reservations about the deal (bailout for insurance companies) and conservatives in Congress believe the proposal doesn’t go far enough to repeal Obamacare. (here)
As we have said before (here), this “fix” for Obamacare is more taxpayer money. It shows Americans that Congress can do something, but the proposal is simply a stop-gap measure to get to the 2018 and 2020 elections. Democrats are beating the single-payer drum louder every day. Republicans, with their incremental acceptance of government into health care, are enabling them.
The silver lining in the Alexander-Murray proposal is the greater use of catastrophic health insurance plans, which we have long advocated for. (here) Only time will tell if this is enough to gain the support of Congressional conservatives.