Health Affairs Blog: Underneath theDemocratic Health Bills Are Republican Roots

by Karl Kronebusch

In recent days, Republican leaders on Capitol Hill have taken up the argument that the Democratic health reform bills represent a “government takeover” of the health care system. These claims misrepresent the substantive content of the bills, since the approach of the main committee bills is to extend employer-sponsored, private insurance. But this rhetorical exaggeration also reveals how far today’s Republicans have moved from the policy ideas of the previous generation of Republican officials.

Indeed, a careful reading of today’s main Democratic bills reveals, to a surprising degree, a set of policy approaches that were at the core of mainstream Republican proposals a few decades ago, which focused on employer-provided health insurance, private sector insurers, and market competition as an alternative to a national health insurance program run by the federal government.

Read More