Republicans with a Health Reform Plan: Please Stand Up!

Republicans are joyfully creating fear about the initial ineptness of the Affordable Care Act's Insurance Exchange roll out, but their war dance hasn't produced a viable idea about how to create a system to provide access and affordability to health insurance provided for in the law.

It makes no sense for Republicans to oppose the Affordable Care Act, especially the Insurance Exchanges, when the law requires people to buy health insurance. This is the same as requiring people to buy automobile or home owners insurance.  Insurance Exchanges are a Republican idea created by the conservative Heritage Foundation. What was determined to have been a Republican idea is now somehow unworthy of their support - ...why????

Republican criticize the health care law, but it includes ideas that originated with conservatives. During an interview on NBC's Today show on March 30, 2010, President Barack Obama offered a specific example.

Obama told host Matt Lauer that "when you actually look at the bill itself, it incorporates all sorts of Republican ideas. I mean a lot of commentators have said this is sort of similar to the bill that Mitt Romney, created and passed in Massachusetts. A lot of the ideas in terms of the exchange, just being able to pool and improve the purchasing power of individuals in the insurance market, that originated from the Heritage Foundation. ..."

Robert Moffit, "The Rationale for a Statewide Health Insurance Exchange" (Heritage Foundation paper), Oct. 5, 2006,

Therefore, in the absence of any other new ideas from the Heritage Foundation, one would think this non-profit organization would applaud having one of its conservative ideas adopted into law. Instead, they've joined with those who oppose the law, just because they can.

So, let me get this again. Republicans came up with a plan whereby people would be required to buy affordable health insurance and now they're against it. Is that like the conundrum Vice-President Al Gore ran into when he came up with the convoluted "I was for it before I was against it..." line he created during a Presidential candidate debate with George Bush? Seems like what goes around comes around. Now it's the Republicans who were all for Insurance Exchanges, before they reneged.

Nevertheless, the news media must begin to ask the salient question. If not Obamacare's free market based Insurance Exchanges, then what? Would a Republican with a good idea please stand up and tell Americans what they have in mind to help people pay for health care?

A better idea is Medicare for all, of course. Too bad the Heritage Foundation has tried to discredit this popular insurance coverage for qualified beneficiaries who are mostly senior citizens.  

So here are the choices:

1.  Universal Health Care provided to all Americans regardless of income similar to plans already working in Canada and England?

2.  Medicare for all provided by beneficiaries who pay into the trust fund and receive benefits after contributing 40 quarters to the plan,

3.  Health insurance exchanges where people can sign up for health coverage they can afford to pay for.

Any other ideas?  I'm looking for Republicans who can add a number "4" to the above list.  Still waiting....

.....waiting.....