Even Democrats Now Think Obamacare is a "Trainwreck"

According to one Democratic lawmaker, Obamacare is a "train wreck." That's what Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) warned of the signiture health care law of the Obama administration.

Obamacare's implementation has been delayed multiple times, and is hurting Americans. A recent CBS poll shows that more Americans than ever want to repeal Obamacare, and a record number believe the bill will hurt them. It is blatantly clear that Obamacare is a terrible fit for America. Representative Tom Price (R-Ga.), who worked as a doctor for over 20 years, has proposed an alternative bill, which solves the problems in the American health care system: the Empowering Patients First Act.

Price knows what doctors need in order to treat people. While practicing as a doctor, he learned the powerful effect of health care policy on the ability of doctors to do treat patients effectively.

In "How to replace Obamacare," Price explains that Obamacare is neither a "compassionate" nor "competent" law. He asserts Obamacare's "rules, regulations and mandates violate every principle of health care we hold dear: affordability, accessibility, quality, innovation, responsiveness and choices." The law also provides less coverage for foster kids.

He criticizes the Obama administration, which had years to prepare for Obamacare, for its disastrous rollout that people in his own party are condemning. Senator Max Baucus (D-Mont.) notably called the law and its implementation a "huge train wreck," and Senator Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) criticized the delays in implementing Obamacare. The most recent delay is of the vital employer mandate component.

Price asks, "if they can't even get their own law together in three years, how can they possibly deliver unique, quality health care for every patient?" He points out that the Obama administration's "Washington-knows-best" approach is hurting the American people – putting strain on families, eliminating jobs, raising unemployment and underemployment, increasing the national debt, hurting future generations, and decreasing the amount of doctors.  

For these reasons, Price created the Empowering Patients First Act. This alternative to Obamacare is focused on patient and doctor autonomy, and most importantly, leaving health care decisions in the hands of those two people – the only two people who should have a say in treatment. Obamacare, on the other hand, puts health care decisions in the hands of the government, which is dissociated from the patient. No bureaucracy can claim to know how to treat a patient better than doctors and patients themselves.

The bill (H.R. 2300) is focused on four goals: universal "access to health coverage;" reducing unnecessarily high health care costs; fixing insurance problems, "including portability and pre-existing illness;" and improving the quality of care. Price states firmly, "all of this can be accomplished by putting patients, families and doctors in charge of health care decisions, not Washington."

The Empowering Patients First Act repeals Obamacare. Price then attacks the problems present in the health care system in a novel way. He thinks that when people change jobs, their plans should move with them, just like a 401(k) plan. The Act also prevents health insurance companies from denying patients due to pre-existing conditions.

The Act helps patients afford health insurance using tax credits and deductions. It also stops rising health care costs by protecting patients and doctors. Specifically, he intends to enact "meaningful lawsuit abuse reform" and end "the practice of defensive medicine." For those who are unfamiliar with "defensive medicine," it is a widely condemned, but commonplace, practice used by doctors in which they perform extra and unnecessary tests on patients for the sole purpose of avoiding lawsuits. Its effects boil down to exponentially higher healthcare costs and distorted medical standards.

Furthermore, Price proposes allowing people to buy health coverage across state lines, in order to increase competition, which will lead to better care and lower prices.

President Obama repeatedly and falsely claims that Republicans are petty for criticizing Obamacare, and says they haven't proposed an alternative. That claim is flatly false and intentionally misleading. The Empowering Patients First Act is an endlessly better alternative to Obamacare, and it fixes the problems in our health care system.