Insurers and drug companies are making out like bandits under the current health care system, a leading Senate progressive and one of its most vocal conservatives said Tuesday, though they’re far apart on what do about it.
Sen. Ted Cruz, Texas Republican, said it is time to repeal Obamacare, saying its mix of government mandates and taxpayers subsidies handed insurers millions of new customers, yet ushered in premium increases and fewer choices for people who purchase insurance on their own, after too few healthy customers signed up on its web-based exchanges.
“Ted, let’s work together for a Medicare-for-all, single payer insurer system,” Sen. Bernard Sanders, Vermont independent, said at a CNN debate on the future of the Affordable Care Act.
That’s not where the Texan had been heading.
Instead, Mr. Cruz is among Republicans who say Obamacare’s heavy mandates should be replaced with a GOP plan that uses market forces to entice people into plans, rather than doubling down on government-directed solutions.
“The answer is: empower you, give you choices, lower prices, lower premiums, lower deductibles,” Mr. Cruz said.
Mr. Cruz also said he would like to take on “big Pharma” with Mr. Sanders, although he also wants to spur competition by streamlining the regulatory process, rather than pushing the government to negotiate drug prices, as progressives prefer.
Both men agreed that Americans should be allowed to purchase cheaper drugs from Canada. Mr. Cruz was born there, while Mr. Sanders lives about 50 miles from U.S.’s northern neighbor.
The primetime duel between two 2016 presidential candidates who finished second in their respective party primaries got heated at times, but there was a comity that ran through the town-hall style debate, even as their fellow senators voted to silence Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Massachusetts Democrats, for her comments about Mr. Trump’s attorney general pick, Sen. Jeff Session of Alabama.
Democrats say Congress should fix, not repeal, Obamacare with more generous subsidies or a government-run “public option” plan to compete with private plans on the exchanges.
Mr. Sanders acknowledged the law is far from perfect, though he pointed to polling that says many people do not want to repeal it outright. He also reiterated his own push for a government-run system.
Republicans who control Congress have rejected all of those ideas, though they’ve fallen behind schedule in their plans to repeal and replace Obamacare with President Trump.
House Speaker Paul D. Ryan said Tuesday the GOP will finish its legislative work this year, as conservatives itch for a swift repeal vote to fulfill their campaign promises.
“Should Congress move swiftly to repeal Obamacare? Absolutely,” Mr. Cruz said, though he added: “No one thinks we’re done once Obamacare is repealed.”
Republicans have failed to outline comprehensive plans for replacing the law, though House Speaker Paul D. Ryan on Tuesday said the GOP will finish its legislative work this year.
Mr. Cruz endorsed GOP plans to expand the use of tax-advantaged health savings accounts or allow the sale of health insurance across state lines, though he did not provide a timeline for a replacement.
Instead, he relitigated the case against Obamacare or a European-style system in which the government runs the system and pays for it, saying it leads to long wait times and rationing of medical care.
As it stands, House committees have discussed ways to tighten up eligibility for Medicaid or to let insurers charge older customers more than three times what they charge younger enrollees.
They also want to scrap rules that require companies with more than 50 employees to provide adequate health insurance or pay fines.
A beauty shop owner said it was impossible for her to provide health insurance under current rates. She got a sympathetic ear from Mr. Cruz, while Mr. Sanders focused on her workers instead of her bottom line, saying they need health care one way or another.
“Please join me and fight for a Medicare-for-all program,” Mr. Sanders said.
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.
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