President Obama offered Monday to let states design their own alternatives to the federal health care overhaul provided they fulfill certain goals.
Speaking to a gathering of the nation’s governors, Obama opened the door for any state executives who think they can tackle rising health care costs and coverage barriers better than he can to step up to the plate and try it. The catch, Obama said, is that their plans would have to achieve at least what his administration claims the federal overhaul achieves with regard to coverage and cost.
“If your state can create a plan that can cover as many people as affordably and comprehensively as the Affordable Care Act does, without increasing the deficit, you can implement that plan and we’ll work with you to do it,” Obama said.
The offer is not as sweeping as it may sound at first. In fact, the law already allows states to propose their own framework for health care. But under the law, states cannot offer their plans until 2017. The president said Monday states could submit their ideas three years earlier, in 2014. The idea to move up the date for state experimentation was originally pitched by Oregon Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden and Massachusetts Republican Sen. Scott Brown, who proposed it in legislation.
“I think that’s a reasonable proposal, I support it,” Obama said Monday. “It will give you flexibility more quickly, while still guaranteeing the American people reform.”
Join the official YWN WhatsApp status
5 Responses
This is brilliant — calling the Republicans’ bluff. There in fact are two states that pretty much meet the ACR guidelines right now: Massachusetts and Hawaii.
We do not want ObamaScare under a state name. By the way, Mr. Obama, a federal court has ruled ObamaScare UNconstitutional, so who really cares about your “generous”offer to burden states with your brand of insanity?
Nice try, charliehall and Obama.
There’s a reason why the governors ran for executive office – they are not legislators. Oh, and Massachusetts and Hawaii are liberal States.
Leave it to the Republican 113th Congress to find a better solution, señor.
Typical fake right then go left by the unconstitutional one and his regime.
He wants to have the hard left states take on their own version of ObamaCare so that down the road there could be a court case claiming its not fair that coverage varies between the states. That will cause the ‘need’ for single payer.
Chazal said, “ayzeh hu chochem, ha’roeh es ha’nolad.”
CharlieHall and his left wing kooks just keep showing us that they are far from being chachomim!
“charlie hall” the commenter above nailedi to nthe head.
obama has been offering any alternative plan that meets his main criteria while not increasing the deficit for over a year especially visible at the republican retreat in baltimore.
and no one has proposed such a plan that would conceivably be approved by the CBO, not the raise the deficit, and would provide as much coverage and safety as the plan that was passed