Cruz unveils ObamaCare alternative

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) on Tuesday offered the latest in a series of Republican ObamaCare alternatives ahead of a Supreme Court ruling that could gut the law. 

{mosads}Cruz’s bill, called the Health Care Choices Act, would allow people to buy health insurance across state lines, long a Republican health policy goal. It would also repeal Title I of ObamaCare, which would undo much of the law, including the mandate to buy insurance, the insurance marketplaces and subsidies to help people afford coverage.

Republicans are looking to show that they have a plan ready if the court strikes down subsidies for around 7.5 million people in the roughly three-dozen states using federally run marketplaces. The court will hear arguments in the case, King v. Burwell, on Wednesday. 

The Obama administration insists that it does not have a contingency plan and that it will prevail in Court. 

“The administration has done absolutely nothing to prepare for an upcoming Supreme Court decision that could leave millions of Americans unable to afford insurance thanks to this failed law,” Cruz said in a statement. “Republicans must offer the American people alternatives that lower costs and break the status quo that favors big government and big health care business over hardworking Americans.”

The plan joins a variety of recent GOP proposals. Three top Republicans have proposed a plan to provide financial assistance to let people temporarily keep their ObamaCare plans while a more state-based solution is worked out. 

Meanwhile, three House Republican chairmen have proposed another plan, which would provide tax credits to help people buy insurance while allowing states to opt out of ObamaCare’s mandates. 

Cruz’s plan is the most detailed, in that he has provided legislative text. The other plans are not yet formal legislation and have only been outlined in op-eds. Questions such as the size of the tax credits remain on the House chairmen’s plan. 

Cruz told The Hill on Monday that he is not ruling out supporting aspects of the other plans, including the temporary extension of ObamaCare plans. “I don’t want to prejudge that debate right now, I want to assess the options,” he said.

While Cruz’s bill does not fully repeal ObamaCare, he maintains that is the ultimate goal. 

“Every last word of Obamacare must be repealed,” Cruz said in the statement. “And while we continue that fight, we must also send bill after bill to the president’s desk to stop its harmful effects.”

The five co-sponsors of Cruz’s bill include Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), who is one of the three Republicans who proposed the other plan. Another co-sponsor is Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), who like Cruz, could run for president in 2016.