How Can Republicans Make Health Insurance Better Again?
USATue Nov 26 2024
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Health insurance in America hasn't always been easy on the wallet. Back in the day, people had more freedom to pick their own plans. But that changed when Democrats started expanding government control over health insurance. This led to higher costs, with a family of four now spending about $24, 000 a year. Republicans are now thinking of steps to fix this.
After President Clinton's health care plan failed in the 90s, several laws were passed that expanded the government's role. These included the Affordable Care Act, or ObamaCare, which made insurance more costly. While Republicans can't just erase ObamaCare, they can make changes that give people more choices.
One change could be to let more people join Association Health Plans. These plans were made easier to join in 2017, but some rules were added back. Republicans could make these plans more flexible again.
Another idea is to make Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) bigger. HSAs let people save money to pay for small health costs. Republicans could let employers put more money into these accounts, giving employees more control over their health care spending.
Short-term health policies could also be made easier to get. These plans were popular before ObamaCare, but rules were added to make them harder to use. Republicans could remove these rules to give people more options.
ObamaCare added many rules that made insurance more expensive. Some of these rules could be removed to let insurers offer cheaper plans. For example, not everyone needs maternity care or drug abuse counseling in their plan.
Lastly, Republicans could let insurers decide again who to cover. Before ObamaCare, insurers couldn't deny people with pre-existing conditions in most cases. States had high-risk pools to help these people. Republicans could bring back these pools with some improvements.
Republicans won't have an easy time making these changes. But the public might be ready for new ideas about health insurance.
https://localnews.ai/article/how-can-republicans-make-health-insurance-better-again-db1fb070
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