“Ours is, I believe, the only bill that has the unique combination of allowing states to choose to keep the Affordable Care Act [Obamacare] if it is working for their residents,” Collins stated.
The plan would be financed largely through health savings accounts, with US government tax credits providing some of the money.
Cassidy, a physician at a hospital for low income residents in his home state of Louisiana before entering politics, outlined several features of the legislation, including a funding mechanism, automatic enrollment of senior citizens in Medicare, catastrophic coverage and a requirement that health care providers tell patients up front the price of procedures being performed.
The Cassidy-Collins legislation will compete with multiple reform bills under consideration, as well as proposals being drafted by the Trump administration.
Average Obamacare insurance rates increased by 22 percent last year, the New York Times reported in November, while many healthcare providers exited the market.
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) said in a report last week that some 18 million Americans could lose health insurance coverage if the Affordable Care Act is repealed.
