Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) said that the Senate will vote Thursday on a healthcare reform package led by Sens. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) and Mike Crapo (R-ID).
Thune said that Republican senators have put their own proposal, the Crapo-Cassidy plan, as an alternative to the Democrats’ healthcare reform package. The chamber will vote on both the Crapo-Cassidy plan and the Democrats’ plan on Thursday.
Cassidy, the chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, and Crapo, the chair of the Senate Finance Committee, unveiled on Monday the Health Care Freedom for Patients Act, a bill that seeks to lower healthcare costs and direct money straight to patients so that they have more control over their healthcare decisions.
“Instead of 100% of this money going to insurance companies, let’s give it to patients. By giving them an account that they control, we give them the power. We make health care affordable again,” Cassidy said in a written statement on Monday.
“Giving billions of taxpayer dollars to insurers is not working to reduce health insurance premiums for patients,” Crapo said in a statement. “We need to give Americans more control over their own healthcare decisions. This bill builds on the work we did in the Working Families Tax Cuts Act and will help Americans manage the rising cost of health care without driving costs even higher.”
The legislation seeks to be an alternative to the Democrat plan, which Republicans view as an “unserious” plan to address high healthcare costs and the looming expiration of enhanced Affordable Care Act (ACA), or Obamacare, subsidies. Democrats enhanced the Obamacare subsidies through the Biden-era, coronavirus stimulus plan known as the American Rescue Plan. They continued it through the so-called Inflation Reduction Act.
Republicans believe that the Democrat plan would do nothing to address the rampant waste, fraud, and abuse that occurs with the enhanced subsidies, as the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found. Senate Republicans also believe that, despite spending tens of billions of dollars, the Democrat proposal would do little to lower healthcare costs.
On the obverse side, Senate Republicans believe that the Crapo-Cassidy plan could provide substantial reform. It would:
- Send money straight to patients, not insurance companies.
- Americans that have Obamacare “bronze” plans and catastrophic plans could access these federal healthcare dollars in a Health Savings Account (HSA).
- Lower insurance premiums by 11 percent through cost-sharing reduction payments.
- Allow Americans to choose a plan according to their needs by increasing access to catastrophic plans.
- Bar illegal aliens from accessing Medicaid by requiring states to verify citizenship and immigration status before receiving coverage.
- Prevent federal dollars from funding gender transition services under Medicaid.
The Crapo-Cassidy plan aligns with President Donald Trump’s vision to send money straight to patients instead of health insurers and builds upon the Big Beautiful Bill’s work to expand access to HSAs.
Cassidy, a doctor, worked with Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) on the Graham-Cassidy Obamacare repeal plan that nearly passed through the Senate during Trump’s first term in office.
Cassidy wrote on Monday, “Instead of 100% of this money going to insurance companies, let’s give it TO PATIENTS. By giving them an account that they control, we give them the power. We make health care affordable again.”
Crapo wrote, “Patients should decide where their health care spending goes, not insurance companies. @SenBillCassidy and I are introducing the Health Care Freedom for Patients Act to lower health care costs and give money directly to families to control their own care.”
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