Andy Biggs to Newsmax: GOP Must Back Putting Patients First Act

Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., told Newsmax on Thursday that Republicans must unite behind his Putting Patients First Act, arguing it gives the party a clear health care alternative as Democrats push to extend Obamacare subsidies.

In an interview on “Wake Up America,” Biggs described his proposal as a comprehensive package built from several Republican bills that he said would lower premiums, expand individual choice and increase price transparency without relying on long-term federal subsidy extensions.

“So the plan that I have is a conglomeration of multiple bills that we had actually submitted six to eight months ago,” Biggs said.

“And it's everything from expanded health care accounts to associational admissions, individual choices, reduction in premiums. All of this is in one bill,” he added.

Biggs said the package draws from legislation he and other Republicans have backed, including measures from Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., Rep. Greg Steube, R-Fla., and Rep. August Pfluger, R-Texas.

He said the bill would broaden the use of health care accounts, allow people to join larger purchasing groups and require more transparency from insurers and providers.

“We just have a bunch of great ideas that if you implement those, they actually reduce the cost of premiums and the cost of health care, including making things transparent for you,” Biggs said. “But they also allow you personal choice and expand your personal choice.”

The Arizona Republican presented the bill as a response to concerns raised by Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., who has warned that Republicans need a plan for millions of people who could face higher premiums if enriched subsidies lapse.

Biggs said his focus is on the structure of the Affordable Care Act itself while also warning that the subsidy system has become fertile ground for abuse.

“The overall Obamacare is what my bill addresses, the subsidy issue that Senator Hawley's talking about, actually is where you have massive amounts of fraud,” he said.

Biggs claimed that many people counted among the 24 million beneficiaries do not realize they are receiving subsidies because they are automatically enrolled in plans while insurance companies continue to collect payments.

“So the estimate is more than 50% of what he said. So he said 24 million, more than 50% of those people don't even know that they have the subsidies because they're automatically enrolled, for instance,” Biggs said.

“And that money, the premiums don't go to the individual. They go directly to the insurance company,” the congressman continued. “So you have people who've never been to the doctor for years because they don't really realize that they're still on that plan, but the insurance company is getting that money.”

He also pointed to what he said are other forms of fraud, including enrollment of ineligible migrants and the use of multiple Social Security numbers for a single person to receive benefits.

Biggs accused Democrats of trying to conceal the true cost of coverage by leaning on subsidies instead of repairing what he called the failures of Obamacare.

“Think of it this way. You have a socialistic health care system and that didn't work. So now they want to subsidize the socialism,” he said.

Biggs argued that passing his bill would lessen or eliminate the need for future subsidy fights by cutting underlying costs rather than continually adding federal aid.

“If you address the basic concerns that my bill does, that our bill does, what you will find is you won't need those subsidies going forward,” he said.

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