Fifth plank of “A Better Way” policy agenda outlines health care reform

The fifth plank of House Speaker Paul Ryan’s (R-WI) “A Better Way” policy agenda was released on Wednesday, focusing on health care reform.

The GOP Health Care Task Force released its plan to replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA), which consists of 48 proposals designed to lower costs, expand choices, spur technological breakthroughs and build support for Medicare reform.

U.S. Rep. Pat Tiberi (R-OH), the chairman of the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Health, said that the ACA is “broken and deeply flawed.”

“With this blueprint, our goal is to increase choices, reduce costs and provide more flexibility to patients to address their health care needs no matter their circumstances or income,” Tiberi said. “It takes a free-market and innovative approach to deliver affordable and portable care while also adopting bipartisan reforms to put Medicare on a sustainable path.”

U.S. Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI), the chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee and a member of the GOP Health Care Task Force, said that the task force has outlined a better way for health care that puts patients first, improves quality, lowers costs and restores freedom.

“We want to lead the world in cures and treatments, and our plan builds upon the important work of 21st Century Cures to help deliver #CuresNow,” Upton said. “Everyone in Michigan and across America deserves access to quality, affordable health care.”

U.S. Rep. Larry Bucshon (R-IN) added that 30 million Americans are still without health insurance while out-of-pocket costs are on the rise, patient choice has diminished and Medicaid is failing the most vulnerable.

“Republicans in the House don’t think the solution is to go back, so our plan is about more than repealing and replacing Obamacare,” Bucshon said. “Our plan is a better way forward — a step-by-step approach to build a 21st Century health care system that expands patient choice and access, positions the United States as the leader in cutting-edge cures and treatments, and strengthens the Medicaid safety net and Medicare guarantee to seniors. Most importantly, our plan puts patients first.”

U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) said that two provisions she previously authored — a measure to enhance competition across state lines and a measure to expand the use of health savings accounts — were included in “A Better Way’s” health care plank.

“By allowing consumers to purchase insurance across-state-lines, we are empowering them with more choices and a more competitive environment that will lower the price of health care policies,” Blackburn said. “Across-state-lines purchasing along with expanding the use of health savings accounts will put patients back in the driver’s seat and allow them to choose the plan that best fits them. Patients will no longer face the one-size-fits-all failed policies of Obamacare.”