House memorial calls for ‘free market’ health care

March 16--The Idaho House passed a joint memorial Wednesday calling on Congress to replace the Affordable Care Act with a health care system that is regulated by the states, not the federal government, and that will "immediately permit the free market availability and sale of nonsubsidized health insurance plans in accordance with state-established statutes."

The language of the memorial is critical of the ACA, blaming it for the steep increases last year in the cost of plans on the state exchange and saying "a return to state regulation of the individual insurance market would result in significantly lower premium amounts for many Idahoans."

Sponsor Rep. Tom Loertscher, R-Iona, compared the health care market unfavorably with his experience when he goes to the grocery store and has choices between different kinds of food of varying price and quality, which he can select from depending on his needs.

"I think that we need to move to the free market in order to get these costs down for our citizens," he said.

The House Republicans have put forth a plan, the American Health Care Act, to dismantle and replace the ACA, President Barack Obama's signature achievement. The House Budget Committee voted Thursday morning to advance the bill, but the bill could see some changes. It has run into opposition from some more conservative Republicans, including U.S. Rep. Raul Labrador, who think it spends too much and doesn't go far enough in reducing the federal government's role in the health care market.

Meanwhile, Democrats are united against repeal, saying it will hurt the poor and people who have gotten insurance due to the ACA. The Congressional Budget Office's scoring of the bill released at the beginning of the week says it will result in 24 million more people not having health insurance 10 years from now. Some more moderate Republicans have also expressed concerns about how the bill would get rid of federal funding for Medicaid expansion in a few years.

Rep. Ilana Rubel, D-Boise, urged her colleagues not to pass the memorial, pointing to the 100,000 or so people insured through Your Health Idaho whose coverage is subsidized with more than $200 million a year in ACA tax credits. The exchange, she said, is "doing a huge benefit to the people of this state."

The memorial passed 60-10, with all the Republicans and one Democrat in favor and the rest of the Democrats voting "No."

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