U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy's health care plan: Let states keep Obamacare if they want
http://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/news/politics/article_81b05c86-e176-11e6-a0a0-939ef973cac2.html
President Donald Trump wants Congress to move quickly this week to dismantle the Affordable Care Act, but congressional Republicans are far from a consensus on a repeal-and-replace effort that wont leave millions of their constituents without insurance.
On Monday, two senators who have cautioned colleagues to delay repeal until theyve settled on a replacement announced an alternative plan -- "Patient Freedom Act of 2017" -- to give states the choice to keep the health care law or be granted flexibility to expand Medicaid and other coverage options.
That alternative, from Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Bill Cassidy, R-La, runs counter to the plans on the table, including one from Trumps health secretary nominee Tom Price, known as the Empowering Patients First Act. That would offer tax credits, encourage the use of health savings accounts and urge states to develop high-risk pools.
Im not saying that its perfect, but its important that we put specific proposals on the table, Collins said on the Senate floor about the plan. Repeal without replacement or repeal with a delay, as some lawmakers have suggested, would send insurance markets into a tailspin, she said.
(good luck trying to stop the run away Trump-wreck)