In an article for Forbes Magazine, he says that crafting a pro-patient, pro-free-market healthcare package will not only be popular, but will avoid the political backlash associated with plans by some GOP lawmakers to defund Obamacare and cause a government shutdown.
"Obamacare is becoming more unpopular as people realize that it increases medical expenses and restricts their choice of doctors and where they get treated," Forbes, the magazine's editor-in-chief, writes.
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"Defunding this monstrous legislation, however, is even more unpopular than the bill itself. People feel that would be underhanded: If it's bad, repeal it or substantially change it. The problem, of course, is that the Democrat-controlled Senate would block any such move, and the president would veto it, even if Congress passed it.
"So what should the GOP do? It should take the president up on his taunt that the Republicans have no alternative: 'There's not even a pretense now that they're going to replace it with something better.'"
Forbes outlines seven key guidelines that should be part of a GOP proposal. They would:
- Allow interstate shopping for insurance;
- Give tax deductions for insurance premiums currently limited to businesses and the self-employed to everyone;
- Prevent Medicare money from being used to fund Obamacare;
- Stop the exemption of Congress and staff from Obamacare;
- Encourage high-risk pools to lower costs for everyone else;
- Push medical malpractice reform; and
- Eliminate Obamacare's mandated benefits and let people decide what coverage they want.
Forbes concludes by saying, "GOP House leaders, apparently having done nothing on this front so far, may say there's no time left to craft such legislation. Well, then, take up a batch of individual bills covering these areas and offer them as a package."
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