GOP platform includes repeal of healthcare reform law

Delegates at the 2012 Republican National Convention released the party's official platform, which includes repealing the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, while restoring Medicare payment cuts that the 2010 law authorized.

As expected, the Republican Party promises massive changes to the Medicare and Medicaid programs if former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) are elected president and vice president.

For Medicare, the platform calls for giving patients a choice between the current fee-for-service option in Medicare and a premium-support model with an income-adjusted contribution toward a health plan that the enrollee chooses. And while the platform did not specify an age, it did suggest changing that eligibility requirement for Medicare beneficiaries. “Without disadvantaging retirees or those nearing retirement, the age eligibility for Medicare must be made more realistic in terms of today's longer life span.”

The GOP agenda also proposes block grant Medicaid payments to the states; supports technology enhancements for medical records and data systems; and encourages the promotion of health savings accounts and health reimbursement accounts.

Meanwhile, the party platform says Republicans would reform the Food and Drug Administration to ensure that drug and medical device jobs stay in the U.S. And the platform calls for tort reform as a way to discourage the practice of defensive medicine.

For more election coverage, go to www.modernhealthcare.com/2012election.