“Under the Collins-Cassidy bill, states could enroll people who would otherwise be uninsured in health plans providing basic coverage. These high-deductible health plans are intended to protect consumers against catastrophic medical expenses. They would cover generic versions of prescription drugs, and they would also have to cover recommended childhood immunizations without co-payments. States would contract with one or more insurers to offer this coverage.”

Their plan moves the decision to the states. It appears the available care would still push HSA-s. Mind you, you have to have money to put away in an HSA in the first place, something many can not afford to do. While this looks like it would cover people should a really bad medical situation arise, it doesn’t look like it provides much in the way of coverage for the day-to-day, year-to-year doctor’s visits that are so critical. I can’t tell how it would continue to support preventative treatment. I can’t see how costs would go down with this plan, either… if they auto-enroll individuals that may prevent healthy people from immediately leaving the pool but I would assume they’d drop out in time with no requirement to stay which would likely mean costs would increase.

Will be interesting to see if some version of a plan like this advances or if ACA is repealed outright with no clear plan for replacement.