Republican presidential candidate Scott Walker’s plan for replacing President Barack Obama’s signature health care law does not say how many people would have health insurance coverage under his idea.
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“On my first day as president, I will send legislation to the Congress that will repeal Obamacare entirely and replace it in a way that puts patients and their families back in charge of their health care – not the federal government”, Walker says in prepared remarks released by the campaign.
Even before Wisconsin governor Scott Walker got into the race for the White House, his reputation fighting with unions in his home state preceded him.
As his helicopter whirred overhead, children taking free rides aboard it, the real estate mogul was mobbed from the moment he stepped onto the Iowa State Fairgrounds – more like a reality television star than a Republican presidential candidate. However, in his plan there would be no federal exchange, and the credit amount would be determined by age, instead of income level and family size.
The biggest hurdle Walker and any opponent of the current law faces faces is getting it repealed. “We were told if Republicans got the majority in the United States Senate, there would be a bill on the president’s desk to repeal Obamacare”.
Mr. Walker’s plan would also deregulate the long-term care insurance market and incentivize states to reform litigation tied to medical services. Marco Rubio published an op-ed on Monday titled “My Plan to Fix Healthcare” that his press team blasted out hours before Walker’s expected rollout.
The reality of outright repealing the law as Walker wants to do is stark: Doing away with it completely would kick 19 million people off insurance in the first year, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
The Walker health-care plan, which covers 6 1/2 pages, does carry one significant echo of the Obama law: protecting people with pre-existing conditions from a loss of coverage or “huge premium spikes when they get sick”.
But there are many unanswered details, such as the type of tax-code changes he would seek in Congress to deal with generous employer health plans that have been criticized for adding to rising health-care spending.
In Wisconsin, federal taxpayers provide about 60 cents of matching money for every 40 cents that state taxpayers spend. But he can use the approach to burnish the well-worn Republican argument that states need to have flexibility to come up with their own Medicaid plans, not a top-down plan delivered by Washington.
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For Walker, the Minnesota speech also helps him emphasize a Midwestern strategy, focusing on states near Wisconsin where his name recognition is high and he has a strong base of support.
