Philip Klein
The Washington Examiner
1/27/2014
Republican senators on Monday unveiled a plan to replace President Obama’s health care law that reflects the limitations on GOP health policy created by the rollout of Obamacare.
Sens. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., Richard Burr, R-N.C., and Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, would repeal Obamacare as part of the Patient Choice, Affordability, Responsibility and Empowerment Act. But in crafting a replacement, the lawmakers were cognizant of both the popular and unpopular aspects of Obamacare.
On the one hand, they wanted to provide some sort of assistance to many of those who are benefiting now that Obamacare is in place. But, on the other hand, considering the backlash against the sweeping nature of Obamacare in general and Obama’s specific broken promise that Americans could keep their health plans if they liked them, the proposal isn’t as bold and disruptive (in a free market direction) as it may have been in a pre-Obamacare world…
…Interestingly, a previous plan introduced by Burr and Coburn in 2009, while Obamacare was still being debated, fully equalized the tax treatment of health insurance, regardless of employment status, and also gave grants to states to set up health insurance exchanges…
The complete article is at The Washington Examiner.
Update: Tom Coburn loses cancer doctor under Obamacare…
