The Affordable Care Act’s hundreds of pages of mandates and thousands of pages of regulations could not provide what we Americans want: more choice, lower costs, and better care. The premiums and deductibles continue to rise. Patients are finding fewer “in network” doctors, leading to surprise medical bills.
While some were busy pontificating about how much they care about patients, the President was busy working to make our medical care great again. There was a time when there were hundreds of insurers offering a variety of individual health insurance plans tailored to an individual’s needs. Just as we do with the variety of products that we buy every day, we can use our purchasing power to compare costs and value. This includes using our tax-free health savings accounts to pay to day-to-day medical care out of pocket.
Back in 2017, the President started the road to put patients in charge of their own money and medical care. After ensuring that the ACA’s mandate tax was repealed, his administration increased insurance options that cost up to 60 percent less that the lowest price ACA plans. The President launched a rule to broaden the availability of association health plans for small businesses which are projected to cover up to 400,000 previously uninsured individuals for on average 30 percent less cost. He expanded health reimbursement arrangements that allow consumers to use tax-free dollars to pay for some medical costs.
The President signed a law banning “gag clauses” that prevented pharmacists from telling customers when it would cost less to directly purchase a medication, rather than through their health insurance. He continues to make rules to lower prescription drug prices in federal programs.
Speaking of caring about real patients, the President expanded choice to our veterans by allowing them to seek care from private physicians. And after many years of work by advocates, the President signed the Right to Try Act so critically ill patients could have access to life-saving treatment. The President’s latest executive order promises that he will not sign any law that does not cover patients with pre-existing conditions.
Medical care is one of the most personal aspects of our lives. A government bureaucracy by its very nature is one size fits all—or more realistically, one size fits none. The ACA has shown us that more government control is not the answer. It’s time for the President’s plan rooted in patient control.
