WASHINGTON – Hudson Institute today released a healthcare policy proposal authored by Senior Fellow Jeffrey Anderson. Presented as an affordable alternative to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the plan would provide individuals and families with greater control over their insurance arrangements, a broader range of options at lower cost, and expanded decision-making authority over day-to-day healthcare expenditures. Major recommendations in the proposal include:
* Equalize the tax treatment of health insurance by offering a simple, non-income-tested, refundable tax credit for the purchase of insurance through the individual market.
* Ensure that no American can be denied affordable health insurance on the basis of a preexisting condition through a series of specific protections.
* Establish a $7.5 billion annual federal fund for state-run “high risk” pools, to allow individuals with preexisting conditions to purchase partially-subsidized health insurance with premiums capped according to personal income.
* Encourage Americans to maintain more control over their health-care dollars by providing a one-time, per person $1,000 tax credit for those with Health Savings Accounts in the individual market to help cover out-of-pocket costs.
* Empower the individual market by authorizing interstate purchases of health insurance, allowing the most affordable and effective plans to succeed.
Before coming to Hudson Institute, Jeffrey Anderson co-founded the 2017 Project, where he began working on this proposal. Dr. Anderson has also served as Senior Speechwriter for Secretary Mike Leavitt at the United States Department of Health and Human Services, and as a professor of political science at the U.S. Air Force Academy. Anderson received a Ph.D. in Political Science from Claremont Graduate University in Claremont, California. The report can be accessed at http://bit.ly/1NlAgXc For paper copies of the proposal or to arrange an interview with Dr. Anderson, please contact Carolyn Stewart