The Republican Study Committee rolled out its plan Wednesday to repeal and replace Obamacare.
Members of the committee shot down Democrats\u2019 accusation Republicans lack direction when it comes to replacing the president\u2019s landmark health-care legislation, saying the legislation will bring down costs and increase access to coverage.
\u201cI heard again on the House floor when I was down there, just a few minutes ago, how Republicans have no ideas. That\u2019s absolutely false,\u201d Rep. Phil Roe, who introduced The American Health Care Reform Act of 2017, told reporters. \u201cWe have a plan \u2014 a 185-page plan.\u201d
Roe, a Tennessee Republican and a physician, said the bill is intended to put the power back into the hands of patients and doctors instead of insurance companies and bureaucrats.
Under the legislation , consumers would be able to shop for plans across state lines, a sizable standard tax deduction would be put in place for those buying plans on the individual market, and federal support for state high-risk pools would be expanded.
The group asserted the plan would bring down premiums while preserving popular Obamacare provisions, such as the requirement for insurers to cover preexisting conditions.
\u201cWe realized and accepted in small group and the individual market preexisting conditions were actually already taken care of by rules and regulations that occurred and were passed back in the mid-70s,\u201d Roe told reporters. \u201cWe\u2019ll look for very high risk people, we fully fund the high-risk pools, which we had working in the state of Tennessee when Obamacare came along, which allow people in those pools \u2014 for instance I saw a lot of patients with breast cancer who at no fault of their own had very severe preexisting condition \u2014 to allow those folks to buy insurance at no more of an expensive rate than you could in that market.\u201d
Roe said reforming the McCarran-Ferguson Act is also a critical component in fixing the health care system. The bill would restore federal antitrust laws to the business of health insurance, which the RSC says would protect consumers and competition.
RSC Chairman Mark Walker noted similar versions of the bill were popular in the 113th and the 114th Congress.
\u201cWho better to start this process than a physician, who ran a successful medical practice career, who employed hundreds of medical professionals, and met and dealt and provided health care to thousands of patients,\u201d he said at the press conference unveiling the bill.
The group has not yet set a timeline on when they would like to see the replacement put in place, but believes repealing Obamacare will provide some immediate relief while they are in the transition period. Roe said he didn\u2019t create the perfect bill, adding he\u2019s willing to work across the aisle on improvements to the legislation.
\u201cI\u2019m willing to listen to Democrats ideas to this bill, to amendments to this bill as opposed to what they did which was to completely shut the other side out,\u201d he said.
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