Dr. Broun's Health Care Bill
A line-by-line summary of The OPTION Act
The OPTION Act (H.R. 3889)
The Offering Patients True and Individualized Options Now Act
1) Make the Purchase of Health Care More Affordable to More People
- Drastically expand the individual market available for individual purchasing
- Increase pooling options
- Lower the overarching cost of health care for everyone through the tax system
2) Make All Health Care Related Expenses Totally Tax Deductible for Everyone
- Extend the income tax deduction on health care premiums to all individuals
- Allow for individuals to take tax deductions for health care related expenses they incur including all health care expenses currently allowed to be purchased with Health Savings Account (HSA) funds
- Individuals who have employer health care plans but still incur costs on medical expenses, deductibles, premiums, pharmaceuticals (prescribed, over the counter, etc.), or any medical related expenses would qualify
- Allow Medicare recipients to deduct their Medicare supplemental insurance premiums for tax purposes (typically AARP supplemental, but others qualify as well
3) Significantly Expand Health Savings Accounts Contributions and Eligibility
- Increase the maximum contribution level for tax deductible deposits into HSAs
- Allow for Medicare recipients to continue to contribute money into their HSAs even after they reach Medicare eligibility (currently forbidden)
- Allow any additional money in an HSA at the time of the account holder’s passing to be inherited by the beneficiaries of the account holder’s estate.
- HSA contributions would continue to rollover year to year and be compounded.
- Interest earned from HSA’s would be tax deferrable.
- Companies would be allowed/encouraged to purchase catastrophic insurance for their employees as a companion for matching employee contributions (or a certain percentage of employee contributions) into an HSA
- HSA savings would automatically be eligible to rollover into Medicare Savings Accounts (MSA) (discussed under point 4)
- Individuals with HSAs would be allowed to donate their own personal HSA contributions to charity, which would also be a qualifying tax deduction
4) Repeal and Reform the Barriers That Currently Exist for Physicians to Donate Charity and Pro Bono Care
- Allow physicians a tax credit for providing charity medical care, with annual credits upwards of $8,000
- Repeal the barriers for physicians to volunteer at clinics.
- Eligible charity care consists of both volunteering in clinics as well as pro bono work performed in a private practice
5) Reform Medicare from being a Government Administered Health Care Program to a Market-Based Voucher System
- Instead of Medicare being a government-run insurance provider, Medicare would instead issue vouchers to each participant in the program at the beginning of the year, at a specific amount equal to 110% of the current per beneficiary allotment of Medicare per county, for two purposes:
- 1) Used to buy private insurance
2) Contribution of additional funds into an MSA (which would compound and rollover year to year and become part of estate on passing). MSA would have the same tax benefits and be under the same regulations as HSAs
6) Allow for Individuals to Keep their Health Insurance Indefinitely if they Choose once they Leave their Jobs
- Expands the portability of health insurance plans for individuals
7) Encourages Better Transparency in Health Care Pricing
- Nothing in this legislation will preclude a medical provider or an insurance company from publicly disclosing their prices, which will allow for greater transparency in the health care market.
8) Review and Reform Current EMTALA Regulations
- Allows a medical professional with certified, basic medical knowledge (such as a PA, RN, EMT, etc.) to triage patients coming into an Emergency Department (ED) and decide if their ailment is truly “emergent”, by the current EMC standard:
- If a treatment is deemed to not be emergent then a technician, with redundant approval, would be able to direct the patient to a more suitable treatment place, such as a clinic, an urgent care facility or simply to their regular physician. Ideally, this component would be part of a large scale education and resource allocation program, to help serve underserved populations by utilizing the hospitals, clinics and doctors in various areas.
9) Eliminates the Barriers to Shop Across State Lines for Health Insurance
- Using the Constitutional Authority vested in the Commerce Clause, individuals would be allowed to shop across state lines for individual health insurance.
10) Expand Pooling Options to Allow Any Qualified Entity to Create an Insurance Pool and Negotiate Health Insurance Plans on Behalf of any Participating Member
- This provision takes existing Association Health Plan Language (as of yet not law) and expands it to allow for the inclusion of not just associations, but any entity (Rotary Clubs, Neighborhood Associations, etc.) who meet basic qualifications such as having a Constitution, conducting regular meetings and having a tax identification number on file with a state’s Secretary of State’s office, to negotiate on behalf of their participating membership health care plans and rates.
