David Harsanyi: No, The GOP Doesn’t Have To Replace Obamacare. Just Get Rid Of It

Posted: January 6, 2015 | Author: Pundit Planet | Filed under: Health and Social Issues, Law & Justice, Politics, U.S. News | Tags: Barack Obama, Charles McCabe, H&R Block, Health Insurance, Health insurance coverage in the United States, Insurance, Kaiser Family Foundation, Medicaid, Nancy Pelosi, Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, United States |Leave a comment

Republicans have every incentive to come up with an appealing menu of health care policy alternatives to sell voters. But the notion that they need to assemble these ideas into a single Washington-centric reform plan that can be plugged into the void left by Obamacare’s demise is a puzzling one.

“They don’t need a breakthrough. The fact is, Republicans have offered a number of plans with varying levels of free-market reforms, but Americans aren’t in the mood for another wide-ranging effort from Washington.”

According to Mike Allen, in the new insider account of ObamaCare, America’s Bitter Pill: Money, Politics, Backroom Deals, and the Fight to Fix Our Broken Healthcare System, Steve Brill writes: “Nearly five years later, President Obama would tell me … ‘In hindsight, … there should have been one central person in charge, a CEO of the Marketplace.’”

“The president’s comment reflects his inability to grasp what a marketplace actually is, but it’s also a reminder that one of the most distasteful aspects of ACA is its centralized structure—which, for most liberals, was the point of the project.”

What does a contrived “marketplace” built on cronyism, coercion, and rent seeking, paid for by tax subsidies and governed by a regulatory structure that makes any genuine competitive pricing impossible need to be successful? More top-down bureaucratic management, of course.

The president’s comment reflects his inability to grasp what a marketplace actually is, but it’s also a reminder that one of the most distasteful aspects of ACA is its centralized structure—which, for most liberals, was the point of the project. Even voters who aren’t directly hurt by ObamaCare tend to dislike the idea of DC dictating what their coverage looks like. For many voters, ObamaCare represents every problem with health care in the United States. Gallup’s recent polling found that Americans now say that the “biggest problem” in America is “the government.” And they’re talking about federal government.

I only bring this up because as the GOP Congress starts work, the media is already asking why conservatives haven’t been able to cobble together a national health-care reform platform with a catchy name. Here’s Politico reporting on the GOP’s inability to bridge its differences:

The GOP conversations so far are preliminary, and a breakthrough isn’t imminent. Various Republican proposals have been put forth over the years, but forging agreement requires bridging deep ideological differences among Republicans about the scope of a plan, the role and responsibility of the federal government in health care, and how much to money to spend.

They don’t need a breakthrough. The fact is, Republicans have offered a number of plans with varying levels of free-market reforms, but Americans aren’t in the mood for another wide-ranging effort from Washington….(read more)

The Federalist