Sen. Cassidy Backs Trump’s Health Care Funding Plan

Sen. Bill Cassidy, a Louisiana Republican and doctor, likes President Donald Trump’s proposal to allocate Affordable Care Act funds directly to Americans instead of insurance companies. 

Trump proposed Wednesday that billions of dollars in Affordable Care Act subsidy money be paid directly to Americans, rather than insurance companies, so the people can “buy their own healthcare” which Trump says, “will be better and far less expensive than the disaster known as Obamacare.” 

“If you look at an Obamacare policy now, there’s a $6,000 deductible. Democrats are fighting to lower the premiums. You lower a premium on something which has $6,000 deductible, it’s basically a catastrophic policy,” explained Cassidy, who chairs the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, when he joined CBS’ “Face the Nation” on Sunday. 

Trump is proposing that the federal government take the $26 billion that would be going to insurance companies and “give it directly to the American people in an account in which” they can use “100% of the money to purchase the health care on their own terms,” Cassidy said. 

“That makes them an informed consumer. It also helps address the need to have coverage for that deductible. And if they get that policy with a higher deductible, they can actually lower their premium,” Cassidy explained. It’s a sweet spot: Lower premiums help with the deductible, making the patient the informed consumer.” 

Cassidy said he and Trump are “united” on this proposal, adding that “we should all be united about [this].” 

When asked if Cassidy and the president want to fix or eliminate Obamacare, Cassidy said we need to have a new health care model where the patient is engaged in their own health care.   

“I’m a doctor. I worked for 20 years in a hospital for the uninsured. I found that if you give the patient the power, good things happen,” Cassidy stated. “That’s supported by the medical literature: If the patient is engaged in her health care and the health care of her family, she’s going to be a wise shopper for her health and for her pocketbook.”