Neil Cavuto and Your World are doing their part for Rep. Tom Price’s (R-GA) conservative alternative to ObamaCare. In a discussion with Price on December 9th, Cavuto said the plan “already has been scored to save taxpayers some two trillion dollars over the next 10 years, but you didn’t hear anything about it though. It’s the way the mainstream media seems to like it.” Cavuto didn’t say who scored the plan.
Price’s proposal, the Empowering Patients First Act, calls for tax incentives for maintaining coverage, better access to health savings accounts, and covers pre-existing conditions, according to a full screen graphic before the Congressman came on.
Price described it as “a positive plan that put patients, families, and doctors in charge. …There are positive solutions that don’t require putting Washington in charge of our health care.” Supposedly, he asked President Obama to “give me a call” to discuss it. Price added, “I gave my phone number. Amazingly, the President hasn’t called yet.”
Cavuto asked, “Does yours include coverage, ultimately, for everybody? How do you do it?”
Price thinks so. He said, “We believe we would put in place deductions, credits, advanceable credits, refundable advanceable credits so that every single American has the financial feasibility and wherewithal to be able to purchase the coverage that they want for themselves and their family. Not that the government forces them to buy. …You ought not lose your insurance if you change your job or you lose your job. You ought to be able to take it with you. And pre-existing illnesses, you don’t have to put the government in charge and dictate to people what they must have in order to solve that challenge. You can allow people to pool together with the purchasing power of millions… and we can do that again by saving $2.34 trillion in the first 10 years, and not raise your taxes one penny.”
Again, no source on who scored the plan.
Ezra Klein analyzed Price’s bill in the Washington Post. He concluded that the bill won’t work in part because there’s no individual mandate to ensure that “the (insurance) pool includes both healthy and sick individuals. …In other words, this looks much like the reforms that collapsed in Texas, and in California. Price isn't learning from past policy mistakes, and so he means to repeat them.”
Price has been promoting his plan since 2009. The Free Beacon notes, “To date, none of the proposals have made it out of committee or enjoyed support of GOP leadership. However, as the Affordable Care Act faces a turbulent rollout, Price’s legislation seems increasingly well positioned to warrant reconsideration.”
None of that was mentioned by Cavuto, of course.