Universal Coverage: A Policy Not a Program
Tens of millions of Americans lack health insurance. Extending coverage to them has been a core goal of health reform proposals since the 1960s. President Richard Nixon offered a universal health plan in his first administration, but since then Republicans have hesitated to commit the nation to so costly an undertaking. Is it time to rethink? Should Republicans accept universal coverage as a goal? We posed this question to NewMajority's contributors.
Republicans should rally vocally for universal healthcare coverage - and then work hard to remove the tax and regulatory barriers that impinge on the market for private health insurance. Universal coverage can be a goal of public policy without being a federal program or mandate. Republicans should point out that regulations preventing insurance competition across state lines, and tax incentives that encourage coverage to be employer-based, have been roadblocks to the availability of insurance.
Many people already have federal health insurance through Medicare and Medicaid. But expanding such programs could only be done at massive fiscal cost, and with damaging effects to the private insurance market. Republicans should be champions of a private road to universal health care coverage.
To read other contributions to this symposium, click here.