You have to give Republicans credit where its due. This is the first time in modern Republican history Republicans have proposed something where tax cuts didn't solve all the problems.
Or did the proposal solve any problems? According to the CBO, the Boehner substitute proposal, which
- allows insurers to sell across state lines
- rewards states for either reducing the uninsured or lowering health care premiums
- increases funding for high-risk pools and small group market reinsurance programs
- expands health savings accounts
- caps medical malpractice non-economic damages
and many other items on the GOP wish list the last 25 years, covers a grand total of 3 million more Americans and reduces the deficit by $68 billion over the next 10 years. In contrast, the Pelosi bill covers 36 million people, and shaves the deficit by $104 billion over the next 10 years. Heckuva job, Boehny!
On the other hand, by
- ending all state regulation of insurance (reserving requirements, community ratings, minimum benefit packages, etc.)
- making it virtually impossible for anyone with pre-existing conditions to get health insurance (Sorry, Boehny, but when you have had cancer at one point in your life, and you wake up with some lump on your breast, waiting the 3-12 months that state high-risk pools require to get treated just doesn't cut it.)
- having people purchase less coverage then they actually need (Who cares about medical bankruptcy?)
- capping the non-economic damages of a woman who underwent an unnecessary masectomy because the doctors accidentally mixed up her test results with that of a cancer patient
Boehner's proposal lowers average premiums in 2016 by 7-10 percent in the small group market, by 5-8 percent in the individual insurance market, and by 0-3 percent in the large group market. Gee, what a great tradeoff, Boehny!
Maybe tax cuts were a better idea.
Update: According to Stroszek, the CBO shows that the Pelosi bill will lower average premiums in the individual insurance market (a.k.a. the Exchange) in 2016 by 12 percent. And that's with more benefits, higher actuarial values (more coverage), and protections for recissions and no discrimination based on pre-existing conditions.