How Republicans can make health care affordable |
As the government shutdown drags on, lawmakers remain locked in a standoff over whether to extend ObamaCare subsidies. Supporters of these taxpayer-provided subsidies claim they’re the fix for rising health costs when, in fact, they only mask rising costs. ObamaCare is the primary reason costs are rising.
Congress faces a choice: Keep pouring taxpayer dollars into a failing, unaffordable health care system, or take this opportunity to fix the structural flaws driving costs ever higher.
ObamaCare was destined to fail because it replaced real insurance with political engineering. Without continuing the enhanced subsidies imposed during the pandemic, younger and healthier people will abandon the system, leaving the pool smaller and sicker, which will force premiums even higher, and collapsing into a “death spiral.”
Even with the enhanced subsidies ObamaCare premiums will continue to rise, which would require enhanced subsidies to the enhanced subsidies to keep the system functioning. To cover the increased costs, Democrats will go scrounging for even more money from their two favorite punching bags — drug companies and the wealthy.
Republicans, for their part, want changes that would reduce health care spending, making it more affordable for everyone and less of a burden on taxpayers. Here are some options.
The biggest pot of wasted taxpayer money is Medicare and........