Is This New Healthcare Plan What the GOP Needs?

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Real Clear Politics

"Let me tell you exactly what my message is,” President Trump once said to reporters as his administration remained embroiled in a legal battle over the Affordable Care Act. “The Republican Party will soon be known as the party of health care. You watch."

That was in March, and rebranding efforts since then have been less than successful. Instead, Obamacare -- albeit abbreviated significantly through legal challenges and executive orders -- remains the law of the land. Meanwhile, “Medicare for All,” or some iteration of it, is increasingly becoming party orthodoxy for Democrats.

With the presidential election year fast approaching, health care regularly ranks as one of the top issues for voters, and Republicans seem unprepared to create a contrast with their competition. Enter billionaire Bernard Marcus, co-founder of Home Depot and personal friend of Trump.

Marcus has funded a survey of more than 20,000 patients and doctors, other health care providers and small-business owners to develop a framework for a plan that his network hopes congressional and administration Republicans will adopt in time for the election. A product of the conservative Job Creators Network and Physicians for Reform, the blueprint is touted as a personalized plan to compete with Obamacare and Medicare for All.

They call it “Healthcare for You,” and they plan to spend a quarter-million dollars just rolling it out. The first television ad drops Thursday on the heels of the latest Democratic primary debate.

 

The spot begins with a stand-up comedian saying: “So a politician, a bureaucrat, and lobbyist all walk into a hospital room. They say, ‘Don’t worry. We are here from big medicine. We are here to help.’” The crowd guffaws. He follows up with a joke about Medicare for All being “mediocre for all.”