AUSTIN – Today, the U.S. Senate released its long-awaited revised draft of their healthcare proposal. Chip Roy, Director of the Texas Public Policy Foundation’s Center for Tenth Amendment Action, released this statement:

          “The Senate’s modified Better Care Reconciliation Act is little different in the overall context from the original flawed proposal,” said Roy. “The inclusion of concepts allowing for insurers to sell non-compliant Obamacare plans free from many of the onerous regulations is encouraging. However, the proposal unfortunately maintains the existing Obamacare architecture and lumps the potential less regulated plans in with the continued highly regulated plans, calling in to question whether premiums will actually be reduced. Furthermore, Senate leadership has added an additional $70 billion in insurer subsidies for a total of $182 billion in potential bailout funds for carriers to stay in the Obamacare exchanges.  

“The bill maintains some positive steps for Medicaid reform, although the expansion to the able-bodied continues in perpetuity and many of the reforms happen in out years so far down the line as to call in to question whether they will ever occur. In isolation, those reforms are laudable and worth praising, but in context of this overall effort, this bill simply does not repeal Obamacare, continues Obamacare’s coverage subsidy scheme, vastly expands taxpayer-funded subsidies to insurance companies, maintains the existing regulatory architecture, and will do little to significantly reduce premiums.

“This is a far cry from what the American people expected. And it will do little to alleviate the pain that millions of people are experiencing under Washington’s continued grip over our healthcare system. The Senate should abandon this endeavor and honor its promises with a full repeal of this disastrous law.”

 

For more information or to request an interview with Mr. Roy, please contact Alicia Pierce at [email protected] or 512-472-2700.

Chip Roy is the director of the Center for Tenth Amendment Action at Texas Public Policy Foundation.