President Trump To Back Rand Paul Health Care Proposal

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Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) told MSNBC on Wednesday that President Donald Trump intends to respond to the failure of the Graham-Cassidy Obamacare repeal legislation by taking executive action to enact Paul’s “Associated Health Plans” health care reform proposal.

“I think there’s going to be big news from the White House in the next week or two, as something they can do on their own,” Paul said. “This is something I’ve been advocating for six months and I think it’s bigger than Graham-Cassidy, it’s bigger than any reform that we’ve even talked about to date, but hasn’t got enough attention.”

The Paul proposal permits small businesses and individuals to club together in order to buy insurance at lower prices.

“I believe that President Trump can legalize, on his own, the ability of individuals to join a group, or a health association, across state lines, and buy insurance,” Paul stated. “This would give enormous leverage to bringing down prices and it would also give protection to individuals that feel left out, hung out to dry.”

“If you and your spouse buy insurance by yourselves and if your spouse gets sick, you will be punished by the insurance industry. If these individuals can join large groups across state lines, I think they’ll get protection, less expensive insurance, and really it will solve a lot of the problems we have in the individual market,” Paul continued. “I believe President Trump’s going to do this on his own.”

Paul believes the reform does not require congressional approval, as authority for it already exists in the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), which permits multi-state corporations to buy insurance across state lines.

“What I’m trying to do is let individuals get into that marketplace, and this would be of enormous benefit,” Paul said.

Paul said he did “not necessarily” think that that an executive order was necessary, instead saying he thinks the administration will do this through an executive “reinterpretation of existing law with a more expansive definition of who can form an association.”

Asked if this is something Paul had discussed with the President, he replied, “on multiple occasions.”

“I’ve spoken with the Secretary of Labor on it, they’re enthusiastic about it,” Paul continued. “I think Graham Cassidy frankly distracted us – the good thing about my proposal is that it costs $0.”

“It is basically legalizing the ability of consumers to collectively come together to bargain for cheaper prices – we need to do this because the insurance companies have all the power,” Paul concluded.

Later that day, Trump suggested to reporters that he would indeed be signing the Paul plan.

“I’ll probably be signing a very major executive order where people can go out, cross state lines, do lots of things and buy their own health care, and that will be probably signed next week,” Trump said. “It’s being finished now. It’s going to cover a lot of territory and a lot of people. Millions of people.”

If the administration does indeed go ahead with Paul’s proposal, it will certainly be a major legislative victory for the Senator from Kentucky, and a testament to his warm rapport with President Trump.

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Eduardo Rivero is the executive editor of The Liberty Conservative.

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55 Comments

  5. The heck with Paul. He is full of it, just wanted a way to avoid voting to repeal what he claims he wants to repeal and thus protect himself from any backlash should an actual repeal prove unpopular back home. He is a man who hides behind a façade of principle, not a man OF principle.

      • So he was proposing a health care plan and punted on an economic plan by supporting the pie in the sky FAIR tax while Rand developed the only economic plan of any candidate in the field that produced a budget surplus.

      • The notion that Ted Cruz stands for anything cutting edge or forward thinking is an idea created completely by himself and gobbled up by idiots.

    • Chad William Harshman who cares whose it was first if it was Cruz first then great. It’s a good plan thats all that matters. I like both senators and no constitutional conservative can deny they both along with Mike Lee are way better than the rest of the gop

    • I’ll be happy if it’s passed I just don’t care for people taking credit for something they didn’t do especially a guy that helps McConnell get re-elected over a principled conservative which put us in the mess were in. He play like he’s principled but he isn’t and I’ll be damned if I’ll let him take credit for anything Cruz , Lee, Bratt or any principled conservative does.

      • You just used the Cruz fake filibuster as proof when that was nothing more than a long speech that had no impact on anything. And Cruz wouldn’t even be a senator without the help of Ron Paul’s network that helped him get elected. He’s been a huge disappointment.

    • Chad, I’m not even going to bother asking you more questions, because you can’t even answer Loren’s basic request of evidence without ambiguous claims like “Ted was literally the first one to attack Obama care” — LOL. Saying he was first again is not the evidence anyone was asking for.

      Half the nation opposed the Affordable Care Act, before it was even passed into legislation. To suggest the man you love was the first to do so in 2014, when the legislation was hotly disputed since it was introduced 5 years earlier in 2009– is just ridiculous.

      Also note that, Ted Cruz has never said anything about reinterpreting ERISA through executive action. So I’m going to go with you’re just straight up a liar, and that Ted Cruz is an idiot who once advocated carpet bombing, which is literally a war crime.

      P.S. that’s how you use the word literally.

    • Again, 4 years after many congressmen had already voted against Obamacare (which he did not, because he wasn’t even a senator yet). Being anti-Obamacare is nothing original.

      This article is about a specific plan to open up competition on insurance through a reinterpretation of ERISA.

      So again, how the hell is anyone copying Cruz’s plan– if Cruz has never mentioned ERISA in his life???

      If he is neither the first to oppose Obamacare and has never mentioned ERISA.. What are you claiming he is the originator of!?

    • Lol everyone knows he took the lead on this and then they abandoned him while he fought due to political pressure from people like Rands pal Mitch.

      Good thing Cruz did eventually become a senator because none of the other one had the balls that’s for sure.

      While Rands was patting Mitch on the ass Ted was calling him a liar on the Senate floor big shoots.

      • Cruz is the biggest fake in the Senate. He ran on a liberty platform while pushing endless war and NSA spying on innocent citizens. He faked a filibuster he faked being a fiscal conservative. Fake, fake, fake. Paul is the real deal, his dad was the real deal.

        And Trump? This is his last shot. He could have backed his plan from the beginning and he CHOSE the establishment proposal. He’s only backing this now because he’s out of options.

    • You’re delusional. This isn’t sports. We’re not cheering on our favorites– well, you are, since you’re clearly obsessed with Cruz.

      To everyone else, however, these are facts.. Rand Paul endorsed a good idea (that Ted Cruz has never, ever talked about), and Trump may proceed with it.

  11. Physicians hate insurance companies just as much as their patients do. This is a way to put leverage on the big insurers by allowing individuals to negotiate group health plan benefits and costs. It’s a win-win for doctors and consumers of health care.

  12. Stuart W. Mirsky, sounds like you are getting worried that your free medical is going out the window, don’t worry that didn’t happen before Obamacare and it won’t happen after Obamacare. I can also tell that you are uneducated because his plan will repeal Obamacare, so your repeal story is garbage and because of lies you just told you obviously have no principles and therefore are not qualified to know what a man of principle is.

  13. Rand and Donald both like to bypass a do-nothing congress. This is the pathway for get-er-done leaders.

  14. How about at the same time you force Congress to take the same insurance (Obamacare) as the rest of America if it’s so great!

  16. This should be added too Graham-Cassidy? I am sorry no one could get the sponsors to do that and sorry that it would not have been enough for Rand to support it. The result will be a better Bill yet, and next time we will have the votes, but Rand is the only guy principled enough to admit the whole ACA thing is a mistake, but l;ike all entitlement programs to date, we are never going to get this one to make sense. In fact, I think the Democrats conviction for single payer will work against them and the Trump base when it gets to election time. I may be wrong, but I don’t think that dog will hunt.

  18. I have been telling people for a long time that the President has powers of the Constitution to regulate interstate sales of insurance without congress approval. That power is “..to regulate interstate commerce.”

  19. Brilliant. SCOTUS already ruled corporations are ‘people’ for supplying money to elected officials so why not reverse it?

  20. .
    The fireman that prophesied Trump’s election, has prophesied that during Trump’s term(s) 3 SCOTUS justices will be replaced because of illegalities. Wonder if that will be the Chief’s warping of ACA as a tax, hence legal? Legislating by the SCOTUS?
    .

  22. Who cares who was first to offer up kill Obamacare…be first to do something NOW to help Americans and their skyrocketing premiums.

  24. Rand Paul is a doctor. Don’t so gullible as to think he has OUR best interests at heart.

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