The American Health Care Act being proposed by House Republicans to replace the Affordable Care Act has to be an easy-to-understand document Americans get, Steve Forbes, chairman and editor in chief of Forbes Media, told Newsmax TV.
"One thing they should put in is transparency," Forbes told host Steve Malzberg on Thursday's "America Talks Live." "Require hospitals to post their prices . . . Post how many people and patients die each month from infections received after admitted to the hospital.
"Things that people can understand and in terms of what you do about people who need help, I would hope they'd focus more laser-like like you do with food stamps . . . how that has been administered.
"I think some of the Republicans in the House want to do this, like having a special pool for people who can't get insurance. There are ways of helping people who really need help, you don't have to give it to everybody."
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Forbes said President Donald Trump, who has endorsed the American Health Care Act, knows the controversial proposal remains a work in progress.
"I think he wants to get this thing moving in a way in which it can finally get something to his desk," Forbes told Malzberg, adding the commander in chief is open to negotiation. "I think he realized there are going to be changes.
"I think one of the things he's empathizing – and I think [House Speaker Paul] Ryan's not picking up on the theme as well – is this is part one of a three-part show that is coming.
"If they get to keep control next year in the congressional elections, they can do more, especially if they get 60 seats in the Senate, which they have a very real possibility of doing.
"[Trump] wants to get something done, though they'll go for the meat grinder of negotiating in the next few weeks. He realizes you got to get something done, or 2018 is not going to be good, especially if you don't come up with a big tax cut."
Forbes is co-author of "Reviving America: How Repealing Obamacare, Replacing the Tax Code and Reforming The Fed Will Restore Hope and Prosperity," written with Elizabeth Ames and published by McGraw-Hill Education.
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