Today, Scott Walker unveiled his new healthcare plan, and…it looks a lot like the GOP’s old healthcare plan. Perhaps unsurprisingly, there is nothing new here. Walker’s plan is full of the same Republican talking points (repeal Obamacare! Replace it with…something else!). These aren’t solutions, it’s just the same failed rhetoric of the past.
You don’t have to take our word for it. The reviews are in for Walker’s plan, and they don’t reflect well on the Wisconsin governor. Walker’s plan “offers little insight,” wrote the New York Times. The Wall Street Journal declared that Walker’s plan has “many unanswered details.” One analyst put it simply: “there is not a new idea in here.”
”No new ideas” is certainly becoming a theme for Republican candidates in 2016. Maybe in that sense, Walker’s new health care plan is a success—it contains the most outdated rhetoric we’ve seen yet.
Bloomberg: Scott Walker’s Obamacare Replacement Plan Is Popular With Republicans—But Can It Work?
“If Walker’s rhetoric is familiar, so are his policies…Though Walker provides more details than his chief Republican rivals, he’s notably light on how he would cover the high cost of his proposals. […]
’There is not a new idea in here. Everything is recycled from previous Republican proposals,’ said Jost, a professor emeritus at Washington and Lee University who supports the ACA. He added that ‘many of the ideas, like sale of insurance across state lines and preexisting condition high risk pools have been tried and failed.’”
Associated Press: GOP hopeful Scott Walker offers health plan with tax credits
“Walker’s plan does not include cost figures or an estimate of the number of people who would be covered, making it nearly impossible to compare with current law. […] ’The math only adds up if he’s slashing Medicaid and increasing taxes on middle-class people with employer plans,’ Spiro said.”
Washington Post: How Scott Walker proposes to repeal and replace Obamacare
“When it comes to repealing Obamacare, something that Republicans in Washington have been trying to do for years, Walker says only that ‘ObamaCare must be repealed immediately.’”
New York Times: Scott Walker’s Health Care Plan Relies on Tax Credits to Buy Coverage
“Many of Mr. Walker’s proposals on overhauling the health care system have been mainstays for Republicans over the years, and his plan offers little insight into how its costs or impact on the economy would compare with Obamacare.”
Wall Street Journal: Scott Walker Unveils Health-Care Plan
“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. It also doesn’t address whether he would institute caps on the amount consumers would have to pay out of pocket, which is currently in the health law.”
Wisconsin State Journal: Scott Walker unveils plan to replace Obamacare
“But the plan doesn’t outline costs, or how many people would be covered. […] Walker’s plan also aims to lower health insurance premiums, but does not provide specifics about how that would be accomplished.”
Politico Playbook: “PLAYBOOK IN-BOX – A health-policy expert, shown both [Scott Walker and Marco Rubio’s] plans, writes: ‘Neither plan addresses how they’ll fill the $137b deficit increase over 10 that repealing Obamacare will create. … Both plans include traditional and longstanding GOP policy positions: block grant or cap Medicaid; reduce regulation; tax credits; state-led reform. Walker’s plan includes a bunch of other recycled ideas (e.g. malpractice reform, high risk insurance pools, cross-state insurance purchase), none of which have ever been demonstrated to reduce the number of uninsured nor lower costs.
‘Walker’s plan reads like a governor’s plan, with little recognition that his age-based tax credits might work in Wisconsin, but need to vary across states and insurance markets. Without expanding Medicaid, his plan would dramatically increase the number of uninsured in most states …
‘I … would expect them both to need to come up with a much more detailed and serious replacement option should they make it to the general election. …’” [Politico Playbook, 8/18/15]