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Patient-Centered Health Care Is a #BetterWay

House Education and the Workforce Committee Chairman John Kline (R-MN)—along with Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) and other House Republicans—today unveiled a plan to replace ObamaCare and provide every American access to quality, affordable health care. Developed by the Task Force on Health Care Reform, the plan is the latest initiative of A Better Way, a bold policy agenda that will help tackle some of our country’s biggest challenges.

Speaking at the American Enterprise Institute alongside other members of the health care task force, Chairman Kline emphasized the need to preserve employer-sponsored coverage and promote patient-centered health care solutions that provide workers and their families greater access, choice, and flexibility.

 

                                                                               
We’ve been involved in this for a long time, trying to do the best we can to make sure people get the health care they deserve … We want to empower small businesses and organizations to come together and get the economy of scale that big businesses have. We’re going to protect the ability of employers to self-insure, which has come under attack lately, and that’s an increasingly popular choice—you get the protections you need to do this. We want to encourage the use of wellness plans—wildly popular and under attack by this administration. It’s commonsense that if you’re doing things to keep you well, keep you healthy, the law ought to allow and encourage that to happen.

The plan includes several proposals to expand coverage, lower health care costs, and promote a healthy workforce, including reforms that will: 

  • Protect employee wellness programs. Instead of tying up innovative wellness programs in red tape, the Republican plan provides the legal certainty employers need to reward workers for making healthy lifestyle decisions.
  • Allow small businesses to band together. Instead of hitting small businesses with even more mandates, the Republican plan allows small businesses to pool together and form association health plans (AHPs). This will increase their purchasing power so they can negotiate with insurers for lower prices.
  • Ensure employers have the flexibility to meet their workers’ needs. The Republican plan empowers employers to self-insure, which allows them to customize health care plans and help control costs for their employees. We need more affordable health care options, not less.

These are just a few of the commonsense reforms House Republicans support to deliver a health care system that is accessible and affordable and that puts the American people first. To learn more about these reforms, click here.

To learn more about A Better Way, visit better.gop.

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