Members Only My Plan To Fix Health Care

Marco Rubio represents Florida in the U.S. Senate.

To help more of our people achieve the American Dream, we need to make affordable, quality healthcare accessible in the 21st century. Unfortunately, President Barack Obama’s one-size-fits-all, big government approach has failed to achieve this goal. Since ObamaCare’s passage, many Americans have seen the law transition from a political mess to a personal disaster. Some have lost access to their doctors or the insurance plans they were happy with. Many have been forced to pay higher premiums and higher deductibles. Others have lost their jobs or had their hours cut. And the American economy as a whole has labored under the negative effects of Obamacare’s $1.2 trillion tax hike.

A law that was sold on the claim that it would lower healthcare costs has instead caused them to dramatically increase for many American families. Now, a new IRS regulation could force small businesses to pay fines of over $36,000 per employee per year if they choose to make a financial contribution to their employees’ health coverage.


ObamaCare is fatally flawed not just because it is poorly constructed, but because it relies on the outdated philosophy that the federal government can solve our problems through more spending, more taxes, more regulations, and more bureaucrats. The American people have been forced to be the test subjects of President Obama’s one-size-fits-all, big-government experiment, and have paid dearly for it.

For all of these reasons and more, I have fought against ObamaCare since I got to the U.S. Senate. I led the charge to stop its taxpayer-funded bailouts of the insurance industry and, fortunately, was successful in blocking them from taking place this year. But more must be done, and when I am president, repealing and replacing ObamaCare will be an urgent priority of my administration. Instead of relying on an outdated, big-government approach, I will utilize modern, consumer-centered reforms that lower costs, embrace innovation in healthcare and actually increase choices and improve quality of care.

My health care reform plan includes three primary components:

First, I will work with Congress to create an advanceable, refundable tax credit that all Americans can use to purchase health insurance. The value of these credits should increase every year, and we should set the tax preference for employer-sponsored insurance on a glide path to ensure that it will equal the level of the credits within a decade. This will prevent large-scale disruptions and reform a provision in our tax code that has been driving up health costs, hurting those who are self-employed and preventing Americans from having truly portable health insurance plans that travel with them regardless of where they work.

Second, I will reform insurance regulations to lower costs, encourage innovation, and protect the vulnerable. Those with pre-existing conditions should have access to affordable care through mechanisms such as federally-supported, actuarially-sound and state-based high risk pools. Americans should be able to purchase coverage across state lines so they can seek out affordable coverage regardless of where they live. And consumer-centered products like Health Savings Accounts should be encouraged and expanded. Finally, under no circumstances should taxpayers be asked to bail out an insurance company that loses money, as is currently the case under ObamaCare.

Third, I will take up the difficult work of saving and strengthening Medicare and Medicaid by placing them on fiscally-sustainable paths. Without reforms, these programs will eventually run out of money. We must move Medicaid into a per-capita block grant system, preserving funding for its recipients while freeing states from Washington mandates. While current seniors on Medicare, like my mother, should see no changes to the program, future generations should be transitioned into a premium support system. A premium support model will empower seniors with choice and market competition just like Medicare Advantage and Medicare Part D already do.

While other measures may be necessary to undo the damage done by ObamaCare, I believe these three concepts are the core of a plan to lower costs and put patients and families back in control of their healthcare decisions. Unlike ObamaCare, my reforms will not be forced through Congress in the dark of night without accountability. They will not stretch the Constitution to its breaking point or rely on questionable Supreme Court decisions to survive. And, perhaps most importantly, they will not raise taxes on the American people.

ObamaCare’s failures should be all the proof Washington needs that the time has come for a new direction—one that empowers the American consumer, expands choices, and reduces the role of the federal government in healthcare. It’s time to set a new precedent in Washington by sending a new president to Washington. I believe I have the experience and vision necessary to improve our healthcare system and make this the next American century.