WASHINGTON, D.C. – With congress proving how incapable they are of implementing a Republican agenda, Sen. Rand Paul tired of waiting and began working directly with President Donald Trump in crafting an executive order that offers a conservative solution to a piece of the healthcare puzzle.
Trump and Paul announced, and signed, an executive order Thursday that expands access to Association Health Plans that allow for individuals to realize the pricing power of large scale associations and thereby reduce healthcare costs.
“Today’s a big day, Trump is doing what I believe is the biggest free-market reform of healthcare in a generation,” Paul said at the signing. “I’m very glad to be a part of this and I really want to commend the president for having the boldness and the leadership and the foresight to get this done.”
In an exclusive op-ed with Breitbart News Wednesday, Paul described how he had been working with the president for months to advance policies that offer inexpensive insurance for the 28 million people left behind by Obamacare and its skyrocketing costs by “simply legalizing choice.”
Freedom. Free markets. Exactly the sort of solutions voters have been demanding and have proven time and time again to be the most effective, and moral, tools to combat distorted markets suffocating under big government.
Here’s Paul for Breitbart explaining the new order:
“How will it work? Well, nationwide associations like the National Restaurant Association will be allowed to form groups across state lines and, with the leverage of size, demand Big Insurance bring down their outrageous premiums.
Many of the 28 million people left behind by Obamacare who still don’t have insurance work low-wage jobs in our fast food restaurants. The President’s decision today will allow workers from two million restaurants to come together to form a buying group and through sheer size get cheaper and better insurance.
Millions of people will be eligible for the same group insurance that big corporations offer. In fact, Health Associations may grow to be larger than the largest of our corporations. Currently, about half of private insurance is cross-state, self-insured ERISA plans, and most employees love them. The President’s action today will allow the millions of people in the individual market an escape route to group insurance.
Association Health Plans will be among the biggest free-market reforms of health care in a generation, and it will do more to counter the impact of Obamacare than most of the repeal bills did, because it will actually go after regulations that the legislation didn’t touch due to Senate rules.
Existing law allows the President to legalize these new groups and plans. Where previous administrations have been weak, President Trump is bold to allow this reform.”
If Paul can blaze a trail of leadership on individual healthcare solutions, perhaps it provides a path for further conservative policy on singularly issues that congress can follow. Passing legislation is, of course, harder than signing executive orders, but the liberty loving former Republican presidential candidate from Kentucky is showing how Republicans of different stripes can unite behind real free market solutions to government induced problems.
Read the rest of Paul’s op-ed for Breitbart here.
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