Walker unveils health proposal

Replacement for current law is short on specifics

WASHINGTON — Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker rebuked both Obamacare and the Republicans who have failed to repeal it in a speech Tuesday that was intended to recharge his campaign and attract some of the anti-establishment wave that has helped Donald Trump overshadow him and other rivals.

Walker’s proposal to repeal and replace President Barack Obama’s health law hews to general conservative ideas for expanding health coverage with block grants to states and a simplified system of government aid to Americans to buy insurance.

But the plan is missing many key details, including specifics on how he would pay for it.

Any health care law that offers subsidies to tens of millions of Americans for health coverage, as Walker proposes to do, likely would cost hundreds of billions of dollars.

Walker said it was “cost neutral” because of changes he would make to tax rules on high-end insurance plans and savings from turning Medicaid into a block-grant program for states.

For Walker, Tuesday’s speech, at a Minnesota factory where he stood beside an American flag, wooden boxes and a screen with plan highlights, was an attempt to re-establish himself as a top contender for the nomination by returning to a theme that has energized core Republicans in recent elections. He also used the moment to cast himself as a party outsider, a modification of his prior emphasis on the fights he had with public labor unions when he stripped them of many of their collective bargaining rights.

“I’m willing to stand up against anyone, including members of my own party,” he said, “to get the job done.”

He said that he had to coax reluctant Republicans in his own state who “didn’t want to challenge the status quo” to join his fight against unions shortly after he took office in 2011. “That was the headline: ‘Walker says it’s put up or shut up time,’ ” he said.

He chastised Republicans in Washington for their failure to repeal Obamacare, a campaign promise that has galvanized conservatives but one that many party leaders have long thought unrealistic while Obama is in the White House.

“I want to be clear,” he said. “Americans want more than just campaign promises; they want results.”

Walker’s entry into the race last month coincided with Trump’s emergence as a poll leader and media magnet, overshadowing Walker’s efforts to introduce himself to voters.

Walker, whose performance in last week’s debate has been criticized as lackluster, has seen his support drop in Iowa and other states he needs to capture if he expects to win the Republican nomination for president.