Rand Paul says 'there's no way the Republican bill brings down premiums'

Republican supporters of the GOP legislation to replace ObamaCare are making promises they can't deliver on, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) said Sunday on ABC's This Week.

"The fundamental flaw of ObamaCare," Paul argued, "was that it added regulations to insurance, mandates which made insurance more expensive, but then it also told individuals, 'You know what, if you don't want to buy now, you can wait and buy [insurance] after you're sick.'"

The problem with the GOP health-care bill currently under development in the Senate, Paul continued, is that it doesn't significantly change those flaws. "Ten of 12 regulations that add cost to insurance remain under the Republican bill," he said, "and we still say you can still by insurance after you're sick. If you add those two together, you still get the death spiral," which is a cycle of rising premiums and healthier people dropping insurance coverage until they get sick.

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Too little change from current legislation is why GOP leadership has "promised too much," Paul argued. "They say they're going to fix health care and premiums are going to down. There's no way the Republican bill brings down premiums. ... It's a foolish notion to promise something you can't provide."

Of course, the libertarian-leaning senator's objections to ObamaCare and the GOP plan alike go beyond pragmatic considerations. "Shouldn't the individual in a free country be able to decide what they want for insurance?" he asked ABC host George Stephanopoulos. "The government shouldn't tell you what you have to buy for insurance." Watch an excerpt of Paul's comments below. Bonnie Kristian