Jeb Bush Announces Plan To Replace ACA

Oct. 14--Republican presidential hopeful Jeb Bush unveiled his plan to scrap "Obamacare" and replace it with a system of tax credits to help those without employer coverage to buy health plans.

He proposes increased contribution limits for Health Savings Accounts, capping the employer tax exclusion to lower premiums, and allowing small businesses to make tax-free contributions to employees' individual plans.

"There's no way to fix it, to be honest with you. You can't fix something that was a failure from the start. We have to start over," Bush said in an address at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics on Tuesday.

The former Florida governor outlined three goals: promoting innovation, lowering costs, and returning power to the states.

Bush said any replacement plan must make it easier for small businesses to provide insurance, give people more say over their coverage, and open up state insurance markets to broader competition and choice.

Nearly nine in 10 Republicans polled disapprove of the Affordable Care Act, but support for President Obama's signature 2010 law continues to fall along party lines, according to the most recent poll from the University of New Hampshire Survey Center. Nearly three-quarters of Democrats favor it, but only 26 percent of independents support it.

Nine in 10 Republicans disapprove, which makes it a sure-fire talking point in the GOP primary race.

Bush said New Hampshire, based on rate filings for next year, can expect to see premium increases anywhere from 20-50 percent.

Ray Buckley, chairman of the New Hampshire Democratic Party, maintains the law is providing affordable coverage options. More than 53,000 residents enrolled in private insurance through the Affordable Care Act, and $244 is the average tax credit for 70 percent of those enrolled in the insurance marketplace, he said.

Bush delivered his remarks to about 90 people at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics. He did not field questions after his speech.

Former New Hampshire House Speaker Donna Sytek, a Salem Republican who is not yet supporting a presidential candidate, said afterward the plan appears to have some appealing features. She wants to learn more about it.

"I want to know what they want to replace it (Affordable Care Act) with," she said after the speech. "So, I have a lot of respect for him, being enough of a wonk to drill down and present a plan for what would replace it. Like Obamacare, I would like to read it before I comment on it."

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