Thursday, April 30, 2015

Gov. Jindal Op-Ed: An Obamacare Debate Worth Having

Repeal is not enough.

Five years later, that much should be clear. The law’s ill effects — higher premiums, cancelled health plans, bureaucratic ensnarements for doctor and patient alike — have all been well documented. This spring, the American people also got to know for the first time how Obamacare has complicated the tax code — raising taxes for many, and causing confusion and headaches for everyone.

But it’s long past time for the American people to get to know what conservatives would do in Obamacare’s stead. Our healthcare system did face a major threat before President Obama took office — rising costs that threaten to overwhelm middle-class families, and the federal budget as well. But while candidate Obama promised in 2008 to tackle costs, and lower premiums by $2,500 for the typical family, President Obama instead focused on expanding government-run health coverage, and missing the mark on his premium promise by over $1 trillion.

So yes, by all means, let’s ask the question: “Obamacare — when have you stood up and fought against it?” But anyone who wants to ask that question should have a detailed answer to this one: “Obamacare — what would you do instead?” Because it’s not particularly courageous for conservatives simply to oppose a law that remains deeply unpopular with voters. We must tell people what we are for, and let the American people know exactly what we will do, and how we will do it.

That’s why I put forward my own plan to replace Obamacare last year. It’s a plan that focuses like a laser beam on slowing the growth of healthcare costs. It offers 16 specific, proven methods that can work to curb health spending — from Health Savings Accounts, to wellness incentives, to lawsuit reforms that can reduce defensive medicine practices, to more insurance options that can spur competition and bring down prices. Just as important, the plan repeals all of Obamacare’s trillion dollars in tax increases and doesn’t replace them with a single penny of revenue hikes.

Thankfully, more Republicans are finally starting to put out specific proposals about how to replace Obamacare. I’m glad — that’s long since overdue. I think this issue is so important to conservatives, to our party, and to the future of our country that I want to lay down a very clear marker. I’m willing to debate anyone with a serious healthcare plan who wants to compare their Obamacare replacement plans with mine.

Obamacare is so harmful to our country — our health system, our economy and jobs, and our freedom — that we simply must repeal it, and put in place good reforms that will undo the damage Obamacare has caused.

It’s become fashionable in Republican circles in Washington to say that the hour is past, and that it is now too late to repeal all of Obamacare, and to say that we will just have to try to change it best we can. That’s nonsense.

After Hillary Clinton’s health plan went down to defeat in 1994, the Left never stopped their fight. I’ll bet Mrs. Clinton even sent a few emails out about it.

We as conservatives must do the same — we must fight until we win, and put forward a good conservative replacement for Obamacare now and challenge the President to do the right thing.

As Sen. Mike Lee recently said in Iowa: “If a presidential candidate tells us that he wants to repeal Obamacare but doesn’t have a healthcare reform proposal of his own, then maybe we should keep looking for another candidate.”

Sen. Lee is exactly right. We have to fight for what we promised the American people. And putting out clear, specific plans to replace Obamacare should comprise a major element of that effort — because repeal is not enough.

This post was originally published at the Washington Examiner.