Republican US Senate candidate Mike Rogers recently told supporters he is interested in **ending no-cost preventive care for health insurance plans and creating “catastrophic funds” for the sickest Americans.** 

**“You know, if you go up and have to pay the doctor $50 for your annual physical, that’s probably okay, right?”** Rogers told supporters at a March 21 event in Macomb County, according to a recording reviewed by Bridge Michigan.

Rogers was responding to a question from an attendee who asked him what could be done to lower health care costs. Rogers said he’d be releasing a full health care plan in the coming weeks that would “embrace the freedom of the free market” to start lowering prices. 

**His comments on preventive care copays and creating separate insurance pools for sick patients would undo two promises of the Affordable Care Act.**

... Rogers’ campaign did not directly respond to requests for clarification about his remarks. 

... **In the event with supporters, Rogers likened free preventive care — as guaranteed by the Affordable Care Act — to “an auto insurance plan that would pay for your blinker’s light going out.”** That would be a great insurance plan, but one that would cost drivers more, he explained. 

“We need to start changing the way we look at health care,” Rogers said. 

A major provision of the Affordable Care Act requires insurers to provide certain preventive care services, such as blood pressure, diabetes and cancer screenings — notably at no cost to the patient.

... In his remarks, Rogers also suggested the federal government establish “catastrophic funds” to lower premiums, appearing to embrace the concept of high-risk pools while noting “the sickest part of our society ends up consuming the most” medical services. 

**“So we’re going to pay our premium based on what a normal life would be, not including these people who are really, really sick,”** Rogers said. 

He added: **“We take the really sick people and put them in this fund that we all pay a little bit. The government pays, the hospital pays, Medicare would pay a little bit.”**

Before the ACA, nearly three dozen states had high-risk pools for people with significant medical needs who couldn’t otherwise get insurance. The ACA essentially eliminated the need for those pools by mandating insurers cover patients with pre-existing conditions. 

High-risk pools can reduce premium payments for healthier patients — that’s true, Parekh told Bridge. But it also leaves sicker, higher-risk patients whose expensive care will require “significant” subsidies, he said.

**“This turns out to be expensive for consumers and government,”** said Parekh, who also served as the chief medical advisor at the Washington-based Bipartisan Policy Center. 

Returning to high-risk pool policies would be **“just so crazy,”** said Fendrick, telling Bridge the pools are among a series of ideas “that have been floated around conceptually for decades, but never had the policy or political chops behind” them. 

Bridge Michigan: Senate hopeful Mike Rogers floats copays, high-risk pools for health care