The Patriot Post® · In Time for SCOTUS Ruling, ObamaCare Reforms Introduced

The biggest problem for the policy wonks creating a health care reform bill to replace ObamaCare is solving the question of what to do with ObamaCare subsidies. As President Ronald Reagan once said, “No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. So governments’ programs, once launched, never disappear.” On Wednesday, Rep. Tom Price introduced for the fourth time his Patients First Act. Instead of subsidies, Price proposes refundable tax credits that would increase as the taxpayer aged. Today, ObamaCare’s system determines payouts based on income, a more complicated equation. In Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal’s alternative introduced last year, the plan calls for a standard deduction for taxpayers with health insurance. While critics of these proposals say these tax breaks will not help low-income Americans — the group most likely to forgo insurance — the proposals put citizens in charge of their own finances. These bills came out ahead of the Supreme Court’s decision on the legality of the federal health care exchange, which may help sway some of the more politically inclined justices that it’s okay to uphold the Constitution over pragmatism. More…