Carson Campaign Press Release - Dr. Ben Carson Releases Health Care Reform Plan

Alexandria, Va. - December 9, 2015 - Today, Dr. Ben Carson, retired neurosurgeon and 2016 Republican presidential candidate, released his policy plan for health care reform in America. The plan centers on repealing Obamacare, expanding individual choice and restoring the doctor-patient relationship to the forefront of the health care system. The plan is available for download at https://www.bencarson.com/issues/health-care.

Since the implementation of Obamacare, patients have faced rising costs in premiums, deductibles and co-pays; received less access to the doctors of their choice; and have fewer options for their desired health care plans. Five million Americans have already been kicked off of their private health care plans and 21 percent fewer health plan options are now available to the American people. Dr. Carson's plan will repeal Obamacare all together.

In place of Obamacare, Dr. Carson proposes giving each individual the power to choose the health care plan that suits his or her unique health care needs. His plan focuses on the expansion of tax-protected Health Empowerment Accounts (HEAs), currently known as Health Savings Accounts (HSAs). An HEA will be automatically opened for every citizen at birth and would be available to everyone in the current system who has a Social Security number. An individual HEA owner can grow his or her account over a lifetime; spend every dollar on medical care without first having to meet deductibles or pay additional copays; and have the option of transferring the account across state lines and to family members.

Dr. Carson's plan also aims to save Medicaid and modernize Medicare (by gradually increasing the eligibility age to 70). These programs will be reformed, not eliminated. For Medicaid, the federal government would provide fixed-dollar support to the states, which must use the funds for insurance premium payments for beneficiaries. For Medicare, beneficiaries would receive a fixed contribution to buy the health insurance they actually want and need. The enrollees of both programs will receive HEA accounts and would be able to choose medical insurance plans like every other American. This will foster healthy competition among private insurance companies, which in turn would promote the expansion of health care options in the marketplace.

"I have spent my entire adult life within the American health care system, spending countless nights working to heal the lives of children in America and beyond," said Dr. Carson. "Health care decisions are some of the most important decisions a person will ever face and the government should not be the one to make these decisions. The power to choose your health care plan and your doctor was always intended to be placed within the hands of "We The People." I am pleased to release my vision for the American health care system and offer a blueprint for empowering the American people instead of the federal government."