
Sen. Rand Paul Introduces Replacement for Obamacare
So, Randy's thrown out a replacement plan.
Some highlights I see:
• Provides a two-year open-enrollment period under which individuals with pre-existing conditions can obtain coverage
• Restores HIPAA pre-existing conditions protections. Prior to Obamacare, HIPAA guaranteed those within the group market could obtain continuous health coverage regardless of preexisting conditions.
• Replaces the existing open-ended tax exclusion for employer-provided health insurance with a universal deduction on both income and payroll taxes that would provide the same level of benefit regardless of how an individual obtains their health insurance.
• Tax credit to $5K for HSA contributions, with unlimited and unrestricted contributions allowed
• Liberalizes permissibility to pool
• Permits insurers to sell policies interstate (!!)
• Liberalizes ability of Association Health Plans to be approved AND work interstate (!!)
• Liberalizes states' ability to manage their state Medicaid plans without having DC jamming it all up
Pot-shots incoming in 3....2....1....