Republicans have health care proposals

President Obama chided Republicans during his Labor Day speech by asking, “What’s your answer? What’s your solution?” He answered his own question by saying, “And you know what? They don’t have one.”

I was stunned over the last few days to find out that the Republicans really do have solutions and actual bills. According to a report on NPR last night, Rep. Tom Price of Georgia, who encouraged House members to hold up copies of their bills during Obama’s speech to Congress, submitted a bill to give tax credits to the uninsured to help them buy coverage, along with tort reform, and special pools to help people with pre-existing conditions get coverage.

North Carolina Republican Richard Burr introduced a comprehensive bill calling for major changes in private insurance. According to News Busters, Arizona Republican Rep. John Shaddeg’s bill will allow insurance purchases across state lines.

Radio talk show host Neal Boortz listed seven GOP options that are already on the tableExpand health savings accounts.

• Allow individual consumers to deduct the cost of their health insurance from their taxable income, just as their employers do.
• Controls on medical malpractice suits.
• Allow individuals to buy insurance across state lines.
• Allow like groups to combine their numbers to buy large group health insurance policies.
• Expand the treatment authority of nurse practitioners
• End state imposed insurance mandates that drive insurance costs up.

Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich’s Center for Health Transformation is pushing its Six Straightforward Steps to Better Healthcare:

1. Stop Paying the Crooks
2. Move from a Paper-based to an Electronic Health System
3. Tax Reform
4. Create a Health-Based Health System
5. Reform Our Health Justice System
6. Invest in Scientific Research and Breakthroughs

Most of the mainstream media seems to have ignored these proposals and bills. I salute NPR for running their story. Republicans have, up until now, done a poor job of getting the word out on their efforts to improve health care. Perhaps that is now changing.

One thing remains, however. As NPR pointed out, “With only a few exceptions, this year’s health overhaul debate has been pretty much an all-Democrats affair. That’s left a lot of Republicans on Capitol Hill steaming.” President Obama, the President that was going to reach across the aisle, said during his speech to the Joint Session of Congress that he was willing to listen to reasonable proposals and that his, “Door is always open.” It seems that since health care is an issue the President is leading and since Republicans in Congress can’t really just drop by the White House to take advantage of that open door policy, it is the President that should invite Republicans to a health care meeting.

So Mr. President, when’s that meeting scheduled?

Tagged as: Health care, health insurance, insurance, medicaid, medicare, obama, Obamacare, single payer option, single payer plan, town hall, universal coverage, universal health care