Republicans see high-risk plans as the future of health insurance
Source: Yahoo! News/Politico
Sun, May 3, 2026 at 4:00 PM EDT
Hundreds of thousands of Americans have switched to health insurance that covers a lot less of their care this year. Republicans hope a lot more will follow them. The shift since January was driven by GOP lawmakers decision at the end of December to reduce the help the government provides to people who dont get insurance through work, but instead buy it in the Obamacare marketplace. The reduction in those subsidies sent Obamacare customers searching for plans that cost less.
Theres a catch: The cheaper plans dont cover the first several thousand dollars in sick visits, drugs and surgeries a patient needs. Nearly 4 in 10 Obamacare enrollees are in these high-deductible plans now, compared to 3 in 10 a year ago.
President Donald Trump and GOP senators want to encourage more to go that route by shifting remaining Obamacare subsidies, which are now used to reduce monthly premiums, into tax-advantaged savings accounts that come with the high-deductible plans. That would be very good for some affluent people in good health who use the savings accounts to accrue wealth but not so much for others: sicker and poorer people who incur medical bills they can't afford.
For many Republicans, thats a worthwhile trade-off, considering the plans also reduce overuse of the health care system and put downward pressure on prices. The president clearly has said we need to send money to patients rather than insurers in the system, and building out policies that are consistent with that is important, said Brian Blase, president of the right-leaning Paragon Health Institute and an adviser to Trump in his first term.
But the inequitable outcomes for patients trouble others.
Read more: https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/republicans-see-high-risk-plans-200000828.html
bmichaelh
(1,243 posts)Q1 Does anyone else in the world have this system and how successful is it?
Q2. What are the anticipated uninsured percentages for such a system?
GOP is on record that they do not believe in universal healthcare.
This is opposition to the Pope Leo's belief that universal healthcare is a right.
In 1990, at 28, I was diagnosed with lymphoma.
It returned in 2002 and 2019.
I am currently in my third remission in part due to ACA and its ban on lifetime limits.
A law Trump and Cassidy and Johnson and Thune tried to repeal in 2017.
When it returned in 2019, I went through four unsuccessful treatments over 2 years.
The fifth treatment was successful.
Unfortunately, treatments cost approximately $1 Million a year.
Nothing in his plan would cover me.
Skittles
(172,510 posts)isn't that the bullshit we were trying to get away from???
Hugin
(37,951 posts)Wasnt it Ernst who said the quiet part out loud?
Skittles
(172,510 posts)you know, USELESS shit
Prof. Toru Tanaka
(2,954 posts)With the orange monster in charge, they feel free to show how they REALLY feel about American citizens.
BurnDoubt
(1,844 posts)bmichaelh
(1,243 posts)Some people in countries that have universal healthcare, sarcastically, calls our system the GoFundMe healthcare system.
Americanme
(529 posts)but never use your insurance, because you can't afford it, even though you have insurance. Sick of this crap.
Ray Bruns
(6,621 posts)Vinca
(54,253 posts)This is so stupid. You can catch cancer in the early stages or catch it in the later stages. Which is more affordable for big insurance (because that's all that seems to count now).
area51
(12,739 posts)unless they actually mean lower the cost for you personally as you'll be dead. Straight up genocide.
AZLD4Candidate
(6,872 posts)BumRushDaShow
(171,528 posts)
displacedvermoter
(4,889 posts)You mean when many people are sick and need care, cause they are sick or injured, or their kids are?
travelingthrulife
(5,470 posts)SamuelAdams
(127 posts)Is that when the worker bees actually see a doctor?
Bayard
(30,106 posts)"As the myth busting website Snopes points out, contrary to popular belief, Congressional members do not receive free health care. Instead, they choose a gold-level Obamacare policy and receive federal subsidies that cover 72 percent of the cost of the premiums.
In short, Snopes reports that members of Congress and staff pay approximately 28 percent of their annual healthcare premiums through pre-tax payroll deductions. They also have access to free or low-cost care through the Office of the Attending Physician as well as free medical outpatient care at military facilities in the D.C. area."
Multichromatic
(187 posts)Disband ALL the insurance companies and institute universal health care.