It’s time for all of us to admit what the American people already know: Obamacare has failed.
The Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, created a system that enriched insurance companies and hospitals and screwed over Americans. Obamacare didn’t let people keep their insurance plans or their doctors, and families didn’t save money — and neither did the federal government. Families have been left with higher costs and healthcare that doesn’t meet their needs.
I want to tell you about a family with a preexisting health condition that I think about whenever I talk about healthcare in our country. They grew up in public housing, rarely saw a doctor. One of the kids had a hip disease. Their mom would drive 200 miles to a charity hospital to get him treatment. That was my family growing up.
When I hear stories of families struggling to afford their premiums, putting off treatment because it’s too expensive, or splitting their pills in half to make them last longer, I see my mother and my brother and the struggle my family went through. And I see a system that has continued to fail families like mine while ruining the market for everyone else.
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Republicans, and even Democrats, agree: Obamacare hasn’t made healthcare any more affordable. I want people to be able to get affordable, accessible healthcare and keep the safety net for families that Obamacare is intended to be, which means we have to take action.
I know we can fix Obamacare. I have been working with President Donald Trump and my colleagues on a bill that makes simple fixes to Obamacare that will help families get healthcare that fits their needs, all while driving down costs. Under my plan, we don’t replace Obamacare — it doesn’t go anywhere. We keep healthcare.gov and state exchanges, we maintain protections for individuals with preexisting conditions, and nobody will lose healthcare.
We simply add options and let Americans be consumers, making the choice that works best for them and their families. That means we stop funneling tax dollars to insurance companies, allow people to shop across state lines and make healthcare more transparent so families can make informed decisions.
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Right now, families can only buy insurance plans that are sold in the state they live in. That doesn’t make any sense. If an insurance provider in Kansas offers a great plan, a family in Georgia should be able to buy it. By letting the states opt in to a system that allows sales across state lines, we are opening up the health insurance market across the country, which encourages innovation and competition to drive down prices and create better choices for families.
Just like shopping for clothes or groceries, you’re no longer limited to the stores in your town; you have access to stores states away to find what you want instead of settling for what’s right in front of you. And again, we can and must do this while maintaining protections for those with preexisting conditions so that everyone is treated fairly.
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When we stop funneling tax dollars for subsidies to insurance companies and instead provide families safety-net support through a Trump Health Freedom Account — an HSA-style account — we put the power of decision-making into the hands of families to choose a plan that best fits their needs. Americans will always make a better choice for their families than the government will.
And then we add transparency to healthcare by requiring public reporting of negotiated rates, costs, and cash prices for services provided at hospitals, ambulatory surgery centers, imaging centers and clinical labs. Families will have upfront pricing on what things will cost them — a healthcare menu — so they can make informed decisions and plan for their needs.
We have the opportunity to make simple changes that make a world of difference to American families. We’d flip the script on Obamacare that left Americans with fewer choices, higher costs and worse outcomes, to one that drives down costs, fits their needs and encourages transparency and better outcomes. We have to get rid of the old ways Obamacare was failing and transform it into a new, open program that gives Americans the ability to act like consumers, just like we do with every other thing we buy.
Everyone knows Obamacare is a disaster. It’s time to fix it. We must stop politicians in Washington from making our healthcare decisions top-down and instead give Americans an open healthcare system where they have the freedom to get the care they need.
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