Ben Carson's new health plan: 5 things to know

Emily Rappleye -

Last weekend, Ben Carson, MD, candidate for the Republican presidential nomination, announced he has discarded his old healthcare reform plan and replaced it with a new idea, according to The New York Times.

Here are five things to know about Dr. Carson's views on healthcare reform and how they have changed.

1. Previously, Dr. Carson's plan involved replacing the Affordable Care Act, in addition to Medicare and Medicaid, with a universal cash allowance for people to spend on healthcare services.

2. According to The New York Times coverage, Dr. Carson's new plan would still repeal the ACA.

3. The plan would get rid of tax incentives for employer-based coverage, which currently covers 151 million Americans, according to the report.

4. Dr. Carson still supports the idea of health savings accounts in his new plan because he says it incentivizes people to hunt for deals and use healthcare services more prudently, according to the report. The amount of funding Americans would receive in these accounts under the new plan is unclear, according to the report. In the past, Dr. Carson has proposed providing $2,000 per person annually from birth until death.

5. Diverging from his original views, Dr. Carson's new plan would hold on to Medicare and Medicaid, according to the report. However, he said the existence of the health savings accounts would make these programs less favorable.

Doug Watson, a spokesman on Dr. Carson's campaign, told The New York Times a fuller proposal will be released in the coming weeks.

 

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