Press Releases • Sep 2019 • Policy Solutions • Real ID and Federal Control: An Explainer from CCHF President Twila Brase (January 25, 2021)

CCHF Releases “Made-in-America Healthcare Act” Proposal to POTUS

An Alternative to Medicare-for-All: 10-Point Plan Offering Freedom and Affordability to American Patients
 
ST. PAUL, Minn.—Citizens’ Council for Health Freedom (CCHF) today releases a 10-point plan, “Made-in-America Healthcare Act,” which has been sent to President Trump and his administration for their consideration. 
 
This plan has two aims: 1) restore affordability and freedom to patients and doctors, and 2) protect the charitable mission of medicine for which America is recognized worldwide.
 
“Our plan focuses on the primary root of the unaffordability and loss of autonomy in today’s health care system: third-party payment,” said Twila Brase, president and co-founder of CCHF. “The third-party payment system which is used to pay most medical bills today has caused care and coverage costs to skyrocket, compromised confidentiality of medical records, put outsiders in charge of treatment decisions, and diminished patient access to care. As a result, many formerly insured Americans are now uninsured, computers receive more physician attention than patients, and physicians are planning to retire early or find other careers. Our plan aims to set a new patient-friendly and pocketbook-friendly course for the nation.”
 
Made-in-America Healthcare Act
 
1. Restore indemnity (real) medical insurance that pays the patient. 
a. Restore first-party payment and end third-party payment and third-party controls over care by putting dollars directly in the hands of patients to pay for their own care from anyone, anywhere. Discourage third-party networks.
 
2. Take steps to end the “pre-existing condition” problem.
a. Encourage state high-risk pools, restore individual indemnity medical insurance, and switch federal tax deduction from employers to individuals.
b. Incent sale of pre-birth individual policies that children take into adult life.
 
3. Give individuals (or no one) a federal tax deduction for buying coverage.
a. Switch the tax deduction from employers to individuals, or end the tax deduction altogether for everyone.
b. Create independent health savings accounts (not tied to health insurance).
 
4. Give seniors the freedom to buy private insurance instead of Medicare.
a. Allow seniors to opt out of Medicare and still receive Social Security benefits.
b. Repeal federal law that prohibits the sale of private insurance to seniors.
 
5. Speed patient access to innovative drugs; Lower prescription costs.
a. Provide a “freedom from FDA” option for companies, allowing them to avoid FDA review and costly protocols if they accept full legal risk/responsibility.
 
6. Restore patient control, confidentiality, and consent.
a. Repeal federal penalties for not using an electronic health record.
b. Restore pre-HIPAA voluntary, informed, written consent for data-sharing.
 
7. Stop the exodus of physicians from the practice of medicine.
a. Keep bureaucrats/government reporting requirements out of exam rooms. 
b. Pay doctors for time, expertise and actual services, not “value” or “quality.”
 
8. Keep the mission of medicine alive.
a. Create an individual IRS tax deduction specifically for medical charity. 
b. Encourage the reestablishment of charity-only hospitals, including religious.
 
9. Pay for care, not coverage, in Medicaid.
a. Change Medicaid to state block grants for local control and accountability.
b. Pay providers for giving care; end payments to health plans for coverage.
 
10. Enable competition; Discourage consolidation.
a. Repeal Affordable Care Act prohibition on physician-owned hospitals.
b. Allow citizens to buy indemnity policies without 10 essential health benefits.
 
CCHF maintains a patient-centered, privacy-focused, free-market perspective. CCHF has worked in its home state of Minnesota and at the national level for more than 20 years to protect health care choices, individualized patient care, and medical and genetic privacy rights. In 2016, CCHF launched The Wedge of Health Freedom, an online directory of direct-pay-only practices (cash, check, or charge). Find more information at JointheWedge.com
 
Twila Brase, RN, PHN was recently selected as one of 18 leaders to participate in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Quality Summit, co-chaired by Deputy Secretary Eric Hargan. The Summit will be used to provide President Trump with a roadmap for restructuring quality measurement programs by the end of 2019. She is the author of the award-winning book, “Big Brother in the Exam Room: The Dangerous Truth About Electronic Health Records.” 
 

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