Issue Position: Get Rid of the Private Option

Issue Position

The Private Option is the largest expansion of Medicaid in Arkansas history. Arkansas does not have the money to prop up private insurance companies and hospitals at the cost of the Arkansas taxpayer. Instead, we should encourage true free market reforms to the healthcare system, including:
* allowing the purchase of health insurance across state lines,
* equalize the tax laws so that employer-provided health insurance and individually owned health insurance have the same tax benefits,
* repeal government mandates regarding what insurance companies must cover,
* enact tort reform to end the ruinous lawsuits that force doctors to pay insurance costs of hundreds of thousands of dollars per year,
* make costs transparent so that consumers understand what health-care treatments cost and,
* finally, revise tax forms to make it easier for individuals to make a voluntary, tax-deductible donation to help the millions of people who have no insurance and aren't covered by Medicare, Medicaid or the state-funded programs.

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