Well, at least the Donald is doing some level specificity.
- Repeal the McCarran-Ferguson Act, and allow the sale of insurance across state lines. “By allowing full competition in this market, insurance costs will go down and consumer satisfaction will go up.”
Not being a healthcare wonk, I'd like to review why this exists in the first place before I'd agree that this makes sense.
- Allow tax payers to fully deduct health insurance premium payments in their tax returns, as businesses can. “Businesses are allowed to take these deductions so why wouldn’t Congress allow individuals the same exemptions?”
Let's keep it real, this does make sense.
- Review basic options for Medicaid and work with states to ensure that those who want healthcare coverage can have it.
That's meaningless words unless you makes a law that forces states to accept the extra Medicare coverage that the AMA provides. Otherwise, this will all get vetoed in Red states (Like your precious Texas) that refuse to allow people to gain back what they've put into the system because... Well, because conservative politicians don't have souls is the nearest I can tell.
- Allow all individuals to use Health Savings Accounts (HSAs), and make those contributions tax-free and allow them to accumulate year after year. Make them part of an individual’s estate, able to be passed on to heirs without fear of any death penalty.
Honestly, I don't see how this helps anyone.
- Require price transparency from all healthcare providers, including clinics and hospitals.
The AMA partially does this already, but if this could be made stronger, I'd be all for it.
- Block-grant Medicaid to the states. Incentivize the states to seek out and eliminate fraud, waste and abuse to preserve government resources.
So I agree with the first part, but I don't think it's Constitutional. As to the later part, the ACA already does that for private insurance, and Medicaid is already the most efficient healthcare provider around, with ~3% operating costs, 97% going to direct medical costs.
If they want to eliminate waste and abuse, they could start with repealing the medicare/medicaid's ability to group negotiate down prices with Big Pharma. Talk about a savings.
- Remove barriers to entry into free markets for drug providers that offer safe, generic options. “Congress will need the courage to step away from the special interests and do what is right for America. Though the pharmaceutical industry is in the private sector, drug companies provide a public service.”
I agree, but that's just words. There's no actual specific policy here, but to be fair it's a primary.
In any case, I completely fail to see how this gets the remaining 27 million Americans into a healthcare insurance program. This falls pretty short of addressing some of the most key issues.
