Henry Martinez: How much faith will Republicans put in the marketplace?
Regarding the Republicans latest failure to repeal and replace Obamacare, the culprit is their insistence on writing losing legislation and forgetting that it is the states that determine the rules under which insurance companies operate within their borders.
They could, if they believed in the marketplace and actual competition, repeal Obamacare without replacing it. With complete control of 25 state governments, an additional seven governorships and seven legislatures, the Republicans could, through the National Governors Association and working with the Republican-controlled federal government, develop a universal set of regulations for all states that would create a nationwide marketplace in which all health insurance companies could compete. No more barriers to selling across state lines.
Creating such as marketplace would not necessitate legislatively repealing Obamacare nor hobbling it through departmental policy. If marketplace competition works as Republicans believe it would do, Obamacare would fall to the wayside as affordable, full-coverage insurance plans offered by insurance companies succeed.
Do Republicans really believe in marketplace competition?
Henry Martinez, Atwater
This story was originally published April 10, 2017 at 1:07 PM with the headline "Henry Martinez: How much faith will Republicans put in the marketplace?."