Carson to pitch plan to replace ObamaCare

Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson will roll out a long-awaited healthcare proposal on Wednesday that he says could become an alternative to ObamaCare.

Carson will deliver remarks at Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti, according to The Detroit News. The town hall event will begin at 2:30 p.m.

The former neurosurgeon has touted his experience in the healthcare sector, though he has given few details about what reforms he would support to replace ObamaCare. He is the only major 2016 GOP candidate with a medical degree.

Carson laid out some ideas, including a shift to health savings accounts to encourage people to pay for their medical care directly, in a series of interviews in October.

He said then that he would abolish Medicare and Medicaid and replace them with a lifetime saving account to be funded with $2,000 a year in government contributions. That idea, which runs counter to the GOP’s official platform of saving both programs, faced blowback, and Carson’s campaign has sought to clarify his remarks.  

Since then, Carson, whose poll numbers have been dropping in recent weeks, has declined to release specifics of his plan.

Republicans on the presidential trail, as well as those in Congress, have for years failed to unite around a comprehensive alternative to ObamaCare. Every Republican presidential candidate has pledged to repeal the law.

Besides Carson, the only other candidates to officially outline healthcare proposals are former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.).

Before Carson’s speech on Wednesday, he will visit the University of Michigan Medical School, where he earned his medical degree in 1977.