America


Make Healthcare Aff ordable


4 Ways D BY MERRILL MATTHEWS


emocrats and the media hammered Republicans for refusing to reauthorize the Aff ordable Care Act’s


enhanced subsidies — subsidies that Democrats added to Obamacare’s original subsidies as part of pandemic relief in 2021. Now, Republicans are considering


their own reforms to give people more control over their healthcare dollars and increase access to a wide variety of aff ordable health insurance policies. It’s been a long time coming. Recall that Republicans wanted


to “repeal and replace” Obamacare in the fi rst few months of President Donald Trump’s fi rst term. But it took them seven months to agree on a plan, only to have it fail in the Senate when maverick Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., cast the deciding “no” vote. That was a costly thumbs-down. The Committee for a Responsible


Federal Budget estimates that the gross federal cost of Obamacare subsi- dies was $18 billion in 2014, $50 billion in 2018, and $92 billion (which includ- ed the enhanced subsidies) in 2023. Democrats and progressives want


the government at the center of all healthcare decisions so that doctors, hospitals, health insurers, and even patients must look to the government to


30 NEWSMAX | JANUARY 2026 Republicans Can


They will give people more control over their medical dollars and increase access to aff ordable policies.


determine what care and insurance cov- erage will be available and at what price. Republicans and conservatives


want to put the patient at the center of the healthcare system so that doctors, hospitals, insurers, and drug compa- nies strive to please patients, not the government. Here are ways to fi nally achieve that goal: Large HSAs — Health savings


account (HSA) legislation was passed in 1996, though until 2003, they were called medical savings accounts. There were more than 37 million


HSAs at the end of 2023, covering about 61 million Americans. And reforms in Republicans’ One


Big Beautiful Bill will make HSAs available to an estimated 7 million more people. However, individuals must com-


bine their HSAs with Obamacare- qualified, high-deductible health insurance and face other restrictions. That needs to change. Obamacare was designed to insu-


late patients from the cost of their healthcare, giving them little reason to


ask about prices because taxpayers are paying the bills. HSAs, by contrast, get the econom-


ic incentives right. Employers make tax-free deposits to employees’ HSAs. Individuals without access to employ- er coverage can make their own tax- free contributions to an HSA. Unspent HSA funds grow tax-free


and belong to individuals, even when they change jobs. Importantly, the ability to keep


what they don’t spend gives patients an economic incentive to compare prices and quality. Large HSAs — a concept developed by Michael Cannon of the Cato Institute — create an even stronger patient-empowering system.


Employers would deposit what


they’re spending on an employee’s health insurance into each worker’s large HSA. Individuals would be allowed to spend their HSA funds to (1) buy into their employer’s health plan, if available; (2) buy any type of health insurance they choose; (3) spend the money directly on medi-


Individuals would decide how their healthcare dollars are spent, and healthcare providers and insurers would cater to them, not the government.


DOUGLAS RISSING/ISTOCK / GETTY IMAGES PLUS


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88  |  Page 89  |  Page 90  |  Page 91  |  Page 92  |  Page 93  |  Page 94  |  Page 95  |  Page 96  |  Page 97  |  Page 98  |  Page 99  |  Page 100  |  Page 101  |  Page 102  |  Page 103  |  Page 104  |  Page 105  |  Page 106  |  Page 107  |  Page 108