The GOP's Health-Care Alternative

Republican congressional leaders today are introducing the Patient’s Choice Act, which provides a path to universal coverage by redirecting current subsidies for health insurance to individuals. It also provides a new safety net that guarantees access to insurance for those with pre-existing conditions. While the goals and the rhetoric are similar to those of the Obama Administration and Democrats in Congress, the policy prescriptions are remarkably different. Democrats are uniting around proposals to vastly expand federal regulation of health insurance, require everyone to have coverage, and compel employers to provide federally prescribed insurance or pay a new tax. The Republican bill would move away from federal centralization.