We recognize that securing Americans’ health care future is absolutely paramount. The Senate can now vote on a variety of bipartisan proposals and amendments to ensure that every American has access to quality, affordable care.
The process of repealing the Affordable Care Act began in November 2010, when voters across the country rejected the bill and sent the largest freshman class since World War II to the House of Representatives.
The Senate alone has had more than 60 hearings on the ACA and solutions for replacing it. For example, I authored bipartisan legislation, the PACE Act, signed by President Obama to stop an ACA provision harming small and medium-sized businesses.
The unavoidable fact right now is that the ACA is failing. Families across the country are seeing triple-digit premium hikes and sky-high deductibles. A third of all counties are down to one insurer in the exchanges; in my home state of South Carolina, we have one for the entire state.
OUR VIEW:
The Senate's health care sham
Our plans will reform Medicaid, ensure that it is serving those it was created to help (people with disabilities, children and those most in need) and sustain it for future generations. Medicaid spending increases by tens of billions over the next 10 years in our replacement plan.
Beginning in 2020, premiums will decrease by
30 percent. This will help people who are seeking to purchase health insurance actually be able to afford it.
Governors and states will have flexibility to serve their residents, with our bill providing nearly $200 billion to help cover out-of-pocket costs. By cutting red tape for states, our plans also give them the ability to innovate and design their health care systems around the needs of their specific populations.
Additionally, most projections regarding a decrease in the number of the insured are due to the elimination of the individual mandate. The federal government should not force families to buy plans they neither want nor can afford.
Bottom line: Obamacare is failing, and our plan provides a better path forward.
Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., is a member of the Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions.
