Republicans actually do have a healthcare plan, and it’s a good one

As the midterms approach, Americans have made affordability its top concern. And nowhere is this concern more urgent than in healthcare. 

Voters have good reason to be worried. In 2024, U.S. health spending rose 7.2 percent to $5.3 trillion — an astonishing $15,474 per person. 

Democrats often claim that Republicans don’t have a plan to help people struggling with uninsurance and high health care bills. The latest version of the Fair Care Act, introduced recently by Rep. Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.), rebuts this assertion, and it incorporates longstanding bipartisan priorities to boot.

First introduced in 2018, the Fair Care Act moves American health care in the right direction by achieving four broad goals. 

First, it achieves universal, and universally affordable, coverage for Americans today, while creating a more fiscally sustainable system for generations to come. For example, the bill would strengthen the individual market by restoring the age rating system that existed before the Affordable Care Act — a reform designed to lower insurance premiums for younger enrollees. And in addition to codifying the Affordable Care Act’s pre-existing condition protections, the Fair Care Act creates invisible high risk pools to directly fund high-cost enrollees, thus reducing premiums for healthier enrollees.

Second, the Fair Care Act gives all Americans freedom to choose among a variety of insurance plans that fits their needs. Instead of forcing workers into plans chosen by their employers or government officials, it gives consumers more power to select coverage that best fits their needs.........

© The Hill