February 6, 2015

Help Wanted: Republicans Seek ObamaCare Replacement

New legislation offers a GOP alternative.

While the House voted to repeal ObamaCare several dozen times over the last four years, the present-day political reality dictates a repeal and replace strategy. It’s disappointing to the constitutional purists among us who can’t seem to find much of a federal role for health care within that hallowed founding document, but at least we know some Republicans in Congress are trying to move in a better direction.

The newest Republican alternative is called the Patient Choice, Affordability, Responsibility and Empowerment Act – or Patient CARE Act for short. Patient CARE’s key attribute is the elimination of the coverage mandate, but it sweetens the pot for remaining in the system by providing targeted tax credits for lower- and middle-class families to assist with the purchase of plans, while allowing insurers to sell plans across state lines – a longtime goal of conservative health coverage reformers. The Patient CARE Act also places a much-needed cap on monetary damages for medical malpractice.

In a nod to those who supported some of ObamaCare’s provisions, the GOP alternative maintains the ability for “children” to stay on their parents’ plans until the age of 26, and it accommodates those with pre-existing conditions, although this would be handled in a different manner.

Senators Richard Burr (R-NC) and Orrin Hatch (R-UT) sponsored the bill, with an identical House version sponsored by Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI). Burr and Hatch, along with former Oklahoma Senator Tom Coburn, outlined a similar package last year but never introduced it as legislation.

It may become more appealing to both sides of the aisle if the Obama administration loses its Supreme Court case dealing with the legality of subsidies given to insurance purchasers in states using the federal exchange – not that Obama’s goons are too worried about defending the voluminous law. When it was written, federal bean counters simply assumed every state would have an exchange, so they wrote the language authorizing federal subsidies accordingly. But when 36 states opted not to create their own exchange, a legitimate legal issue arose – one that could tear apart ObamaCare as we know it.

There are, of course, many reasons to scrap ObamaCare and start anew. Among them are the inconvenient truths that insurance costs have risen, patient choices for doctors have decreased and competition between insurers on the exchanges is non-existent in many locations. Coupled with the fact ObamaCare’s budget is balanced on the backs of Medicare providers – which seems to be a feature and not a bug with the overall plan – the impetus to do something increases even further.

It’s almost certain that Obama’s signature legislation will last at least as long as his presidency does. But if a Republican is triumphant in 2016 and retains GOP majorities in the House and Senate, the life expectancy of ObamaCare will decrease. The Affordable Care Act is neither affordable nor beneficial for the standard of care. And it was sold to the American people on a pack of lies. So while the Patient CARE Act isn’t a perfect remedy, it would at least soothe the worst symptoms of Obama’s legacy.

Who We Are

The Patriot Post is a highly acclaimed weekday digest of news analysis, policy and opinion written from the heartland — as opposed to the MSM’s ubiquitous Beltway echo chambers — for grassroots leaders nationwide. More

What We Offer

On the Web

We provide solid conservative perspective on the most important issues, including analysis, opinion columns, headline summaries, memes, cartoons and much more.

Via Email

Choose our full-length Digest or our quick-reading Snapshot for a summary of important news. We also offer Cartoons & Memes on Monday and Alexander’s column on Wednesday.

Our Mission

The Patriot Post is steadfast in our mission to extend the endowment of Liberty to the next generation by advocating for individual rights and responsibilities, supporting the restoration of constitutional limits on government and the judiciary, and promoting free enterprise, national defense and traditional American values. We are a rock-solid conservative touchstone for the expanding ranks of grassroots Americans Patriots from all walks of life. Our mission and operation budgets are not financed by any political or special interest groups, and to protect our editorial integrity, we accept no advertising. We are sustained solely by you. Please support The Patriot Fund today!


The Patriot Post and Patriot Foundation Trust, in keeping with our Military Mission of Service to our uniformed service members and veterans, are proud to support and promote the National Medal of Honor Heritage Center, the Congressional Medal of Honor Society, both the Honoring the Sacrifice and Warrior Freedom Service Dogs aiding wounded veterans, the National Veterans Entrepreneurship Program, the Folds of Honor outreach, and Officer Christian Fellowship, the Air University Foundation, and Naval War College Foundation, and the Naval Aviation Museum Foundation. "Greater love has no one than this, to lay down one's life for his friends." (John 15:13)

★ PUBLIUS ★

“Our cause is noble; it is the cause of mankind!” —George Washington

Please join us in prayer for our nation — that righteous leaders would rise and prevail and we would be united as Americans. Pray also for the protection of our Military Patriots, Veterans, First Responders, and their families. Please lift up your Patriot team and our mission to support and defend our Republic's Founding Principle of Liberty, that the fires of freedom would be ignited in the hearts and minds of our countrymen.

The Patriot Post is protected speech, as enumerated in the First Amendment and enforced by the Second Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America, in accordance with the endowed and unalienable Rights of All Mankind.

Copyright © 2024 The Patriot Post. All Rights Reserved.

The Patriot Post does not support Internet Explorer. We recommend installing the latest version of Microsoft Edge, Mozilla Firefox, or Google Chrome.