In the News

– Today, the Republican Study Committee released The RSC Health Care Plan: A Framework for Personalized, Affordable Care. Click here to download the full report.

Spearheaded by RSC Chairman Mike Johnson (LA-04), RSC Health Care Task Force Chairman Roger Marshall, M.D. (KS-01), and members of the RSC Health Care Task Force, the RSC Health Care Plan would protect vulnerable Americans – including those with pre-existing conditions, chronic illness, and serious health issues – while reducing premiums, deductibles, and overall health care costs.

The product of a year of research and stakeholder discussions, the RSC’s approach to achieve more personalized, affordable care is designed to empower patients and doctors rather than bureaucrats and insurance companies.

The RSC Health Care Plan is presented as an alternative to Democrat proposals to double-down on the failing status quo or force all Americans off their current insurance plans – including those with employer-sponsored coverage – and into a one-size-fits-all, government-run health care system.

“The RSC rejects the narrative that people with pre-existing conditions are thriving under the ACA. Democrats may be content to keep their heads in the sand, but conservatives will not stand by as millions of Americans suffer under a system in which they can no longer afford to use their insurance due to sky-rocketing premiums, egregious deductibles, and outrageous out-of-pocket costs,” said Johnson. “The RSC has put forward a plan that will protect individuals with pre-existing conditions; empower Americans with greater control over their health care decisions and dollars; and personalize health care to meet individual needs. Congress ought to use it as a blueprint to increase affordability, quality, and choice in the U.S. health care system.”

Specifically, the RSC Health Care Plan aims to:

Protect Americans with pre-existing conditions:

• Extend HIPAA portability and pre-existing condition protections that have long benefited Americans with employer-sponsored insurance to people in the individual marketplace.
• Establish federally-funded, state-administered Guaranteed Coverage Pools to ensure individuals with high-cost illnesses have access to quality and affordable coverage.
• Repackage existing funding for ACA premium subsidies and Medicaid expansion to fund state-administered flex-grants to subsidize health insurance for low-income individuals.
• Reduce regulatory barriers to give Americans access to quality care.

Empower Americans with greater control over their health care decisions and dollars:

• Reform the tax code to provide equal tax treatment in the employer and individual health insurance markets.
• Unleash Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) by empowering Americans to use their money – tax-free – to cover more health-related expenses including insurance premiums, direct primary care service fees, and health sharing ministry dues.
• Increase allowable pre-tax contributions to HSAs from $3,500 to $9,000 for individuals and from $7,000 to $18,000 for families.

Personalize health care to meet individual needs:

• Eliminate ACA mandates forcing Americans to pay more for coverage they do not want or need.
• Enhance HSAs in a way that allow for individuals to effectively own their personalized health care plan so they can take their plan from job to job.
• Embrace and remove barriers on innovative health care solutions such as telemedicine, direct primary care, association health plans, and health sharing ministries.