Conservatives should step up and outline their vision of an alternative to Obamacare, Louisiana Republican Gov. Bobby Jindal challenges in a commentary Thursday that trumpets his own solution.
Writing for the Washington Examiner, Jindal said five years after the passage of the Affordable Care Act, "Repeal is not enough."
"But it’s long past time for the American people to get to know what conservatives would do in Obamacare’s stead," writes the possible 2016 White House contender.
"[I]t’s not particularly courageous for conservatives simply to oppose a law that remains deeply unpopular with voters. We must tell people what we are for, and let the American people know exactly what we will do, and how we will do it."
Jindal contends his own plan focuses "like a laser beam on slowing the growth of healthcare costs," with methods including "health savings accounts," wellness incentives, lawsuit reforms and more insurance options.
"Just as important, the plan repeals all of Obamacare’s trillion dollars in tax increases and doesn’t replace them with a single penny of revenue hikes," Jindal declares, challenging Republicans
— including GOP presidential candidates Jeb Bush and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio
— to a debate on their own alternatives.
Jindal repeated the theme later Thursday at a panel hosted by the newspaper,
The Hill reports.
Jindal, a former healthcare adviser under the Bush administration, has slammed GOP plans for a response to the Supreme Court case, King v. Burwell, as saving the law by continuing subsidies,
The Hill reports.
He also doubled-down on his vow not to create an exchange if the Supreme Court ruled against healthcare subsidies, which could put millions in his state at risk of losing their coverage, The Hill reports.