Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) has been one of the major hurdles to passing Obamacare reform; not that he doesn’t want to reform healthcare, but he’s said that nothing up until now has gone far enough. He’s called most of the previous proposals “Obamacare lite,” and said he would not be bullied into supporting anything he didn’t feel was a real move forward. So to get him on board with something is actually a big deal.
President Trump, today, unveiled his executive order plan to direct federal agencies to figure out how to increase competition and choice for health insurance. Adopting a longtime Republican idea, he is ordering the Labor Department to study how to encourage small businesses and individuals to join into group and association health plans. Rather than giant bureaucratic insurance companies, this would be a more localized, but still bulk-order, type plan. And it would, hopefully, eliminate the arbitrary state lines policy, meaning your company could purchase insurance from an out-of-state provider.
Paul said, “President Trump is doing what I believe is the biggest free market reform of health care in a generation.” He even beamed, “I’m very glad to be part of this and I really want to commend the president for having the leadership and the foresight to get this done.”
Does Rand Paul actually believe this measure is as substantial as what he’s saying, or has he succumbed to the pressure that he said he wouldn’t succumb to? Proactivity or kowtowing?
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