Rep. Mark Sanford to Introduce Obamacare Replacement Plan
South Carolina Rep. Mark Sanford is taking the lead on new legislation to repeal and replace Obamacare.
In an interview on FOX Business Network’s After the Bell, the House Freedom Caucus member said he hopes to get a new plan passed before the end of the year.
“This is the companion bill to what Sen. Rand Paul has introduced on the Senate side,†Rep. Sanford said.
Sen. Paul, a Republican from Kentucky, has introduced an Obamacare replacement plan that eliminates the mandate and provides a tax credit of up to $5,000 per person to be used as part of a health savings account.
Sanford said having people spend their own money can impact healthcare pricing and under Obamacare, people were not paying ahead of time based on anticipated risk.
“We are fundamentally changing the way you prepare for the notion of a preexisting condition and pay for it,†he said.
Sanford said the current system doesn’t offer “true insurance,†which doesn’t provide money into a plan that prepares you for an unwarranted health risk.
“Instead of people paying it [insurance] for years and then sadly, tragically they get cancer, it’s the ‘wait until they get cancer’ to go on insurance so you don’t have the power of compounding,†he said.
The House Freedom Caucus members are pushing for a swift repeal of the Affordable Care Act with almost no support from Democrats. Sanford said there is no incentive for Democrats to help the GOP come up with a suitable plan, and allowing Obamacare to fail will hurt a lot of people in the process.
“I think Republicans are right to say ‘let’s come up with a plan that begins to address this,’ though it may be painful politically,†Sanford said.