Sen. Cassidy, a Physician, Has Plan If Court Wounds Obamacare

Freshman Sen. Bill Cassidy has put forth a proposal to deal with healthcare if the Supreme Court delivers a crippling blow to Obamacare in the King v. Burwell case.

The Louisiana Republican's plan "achieves the aims of the Affordable Care Act without the cost and the mandates," Cassidy, himself a physician, told the Hudson Institute in Washington in response to criticism from Democrats and the press that Republicans have no alternative if Obamacare is struck down.

"We have a plan and this is our moment."

The Supreme Court could hand down a ruling as early as next week that would end Obamacare subsidies to 37 states and make healthcare coverage unaffordable for many.

Under Cassidy's Patient Freedom Act, he explained, all mandates now required under Obamacare are repealed. These include the individual and employer mandates, and the Essential Health Benefits mandate requiring plans to cover an array of potentially unwanted services. Right now, the physician-senator estimates, "Americans are paying 400 percent more in the cost of healthcare because of the mandates."

For Americans who are uninsured, Cassidy said, "this will help make insurance more affordable."

Another change from Obamacare that makes his Patient Freedom Act cost-friendly is that funding would go directly to the patient. This process would occur in the form of "per capita bloc grants to the states or federal tax credit funding," the senator said.

He also asserted that the Patient Freedom Act would ensure portability — that is, being able to keep one's healthcare plan after changing jobs or moving — and "doing so without any penalty." In addition, his plan would permit "continuous coverage to protect those with pre-existing conditions" and would also permit young people to remain on their parents' plans until they are 26.

Although the latter two items are now contained in Obamacare, Cassidy's plan also contains a fresh proposal that "healthcare providers must publish the cash price for services that can be reimbursed from an HSA [Health Savings Account]," he said. "Under our plan, you have the power, not the government."

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