BOBBY PRODUCES – AT 10:21 A.M. ET:  Republican Governor Bobby Jindal moved closer to becoming a presidential candidate today by unveiling his plan for a medical-insurance program to replace Obamacare.  From The Hill:   

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R) released a 26-page plan on Wednesday to repeal and replace ObamaCare.

The plan marks Jindal’s effort to portray himself as a problem-solver ahead of a possible White House run in 2016. The Louisiana governor has already met with GOP bundlers who worked on Mitt Romney’s 2012 run.

Most of the ideas in Jindal’s plan have been circulating in conservative circles for some time. They could dramatically bring down the costs of health entitlements, but will be criticized by Democrats are changing the social contract with the poor and elderly.

On Medicare, Jindal would have recipients buy private health care plans with “premium support” in the form of payments from the federal government. This would be a big different from the subsidies now provided by the government in the program.

He would create a “global grant program” for Medicaid in which states would get federal block grants to provide healthcare to the poor. Jindal says this would prevent states from having to meet mandates of the federal government.

The proposal also calls for eliminating the tax preference for employer-based insurance, and to allow insurance to be sold across state lines.

COMMENT:  Read the whole thing.  It's worth it.

April 2, 2014