Our Health Policy Matters

We hear so often that the Republicans have offered no alternatives to Obamacare that we think it must be true.  It isn’t.  They presented at least two alternatives to the Affordable Care Act in 2009.  And neither would be better than what we have today.  One would have had all the Obamacare implementation problems.  And the other would have insured no more than a thimbleful of people.  The first was called the Patients’ Choice Act, offered by Paul Ryan.  The other was called the Affordable Health Care Act for America, offered by John Boehner. Elements of the Ryan plan , which was introduced in the spring of 2009, will sound very familiar to you: “The federal government partners with states to create State Health Insurance Exchanges.” These exchanges became a core component of Obamacare, and would look exactly like the exchanges in place today. “The Exchange would require all participating insurers to offer coverage to any...

We hear so often that the Republicans have offered no alternatives to Obamacare that we think it must be true.  It isn’t.  They presented at least two alternatives to the Affordable Care Act in 2009.  And neither would be better than what we have today.  One would have had all the Obamacare implementation problems.  And the other would have insured no more than a thimbleful of people.  The first was called the Patients’ Choice Act, offered by Paul Ryan.  The other was called the Affordable Health Care Act for America, offered by John Boehner. Elements of the Ryan plan , which was introduced in the spring of 2009, will sound very familiar to you: “The federal government partners with states to create State Health Insurance Exchanges.” These exchanges became a core component of Obamacare, and would look exactly like the exchanges in place today. “The Exchange would require all participating insurers to offer coverage to any...