(The Daily Signal)—Republican Sen. Rick Scott of Florida has a bill attempting something that has challenged Republicans for years—reforming the Affordable Care Act.
“Obamacare has failed to deliver on its promises: families didn’t get to keep their insurance plans, couldn’t keep their doctors, and didn’t save money – and neither did the federal government,” Scott says in a statement announcing the bill.
Scott’s bill is part of ongoing healthcare proposals and negotiations in the wake of the government shutdown. The shutdown ended after Senate Republicans guaranteed Democrats a chance to vote on the extension of pandemic-era premium tax credits, which are set to expire at the end of the year. When the credits are advanced, they function as direct subsidies to insurance companies.
Before the Senate votes on these subsidies, however, Republicans are looking to make their mark on healthcare policy.
“My new bill makes simple fixes to Obamacare that will make a world of difference to American families by making Americans the consumer, not the government, while giving them options and transparency,” Scott says in his statement.
The bill, if passed, would allow for states to waive having to abide by certain elements of Obamacare, a “health freedom waiver program.”
These waiving states would have access to “Trump Health Freedom Accounts,” a replacement of the premium tax credits under Obamacare.
These accounts would “ensure federal dollars to support families are delivered to them directly, not funneled to insurance companies,” a statement from Scott’s office reads.
Other Republican senators have made proposals, too. Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., who chairs the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP), has proposed giving Americans a “pre-funded flexible savings account [FSA] worth as much as the enhanced premium tax credit that they would receive.”
Cassidy has argued this approach would allow Americans more flexibility in the health care they pay for and create incentives for consumers to purchase more cost-effective plans and insurers to lower prices.
Under Scott’s framework, consumers would not be able to use their Trump Health Freedom Accounts for transgender procedures or most abortions.
Additionally, Scott’s bill would allow “Americans to shop across state lines” for health care from other states taking part in the health freedom waiver program.
The bill also reinforces President Donald Trump’s June 2019 health care price transparency executive order—requiring that the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) update his agency’s guidance and regulations so consumers have access to a menu of prices for medical services from different providers.
