American Health Care Act: YES

Obamacare is collapsing. Last year’s average premium increase of 25 percent is expected to balloon by another 40 percent this year. Last year there was only one provider in a third of American counties; this year entire regions will be without ANY providers. This week we learned Obamacare policies will NOT be available at any price in almost all of Iowa. Last year, more Americans opted to pay the steep tax penalty or request hardship exclusions than chose to purchase Obamacare plans they didn’t want and couldn’t afford.

The American Health Care Act replaces the compulsory one-size-fits-all bureaucratic model of Obamacare with a voluntary, patient-centered system by restoring a healthy competitive market, where patients will have the widest range of choices and the freedom to choose the plan that best meets their needs – along with a supportive tax system to assure that plans are within their financial reach. Patients with pre-existing conditions are guaranteed coverage at affordable rates.

I had hoped the reforms could be enacted as a single, comprehensive bill. Conspicuously lacking in the AHCA is a provision to restore the freedom of consumers to shop across state lines, which will be vital to Californians stuck in the highly-regulated state system. But the AHCA moves us quickly toward a consumer-friendly health-care system and follow-up legislation will assure that Californians can access reformed markets in all fifty states.