If Americans keep choosing cheap, processed food over healthier options, taxpayers will have to keep footing the bill with higher healthcare costs, Republican Congressman Eric Burlison warned Congress on Friday. Before he took to the House floor, The Daily Wire sat down with Burlison to learn about his health care solutions.
“Healthcare is not just about insurance, it’s about being healthy,” Burlison told The Daily Wire. “When you look at the amount of money that we spend per capita on food versus other countries, we buy cheap food. Other countries spend more money on food, but they also spend less money on health care. In America, we spend a little money on healthy food but a lot of money on the back end in insurance.”
Total United States health spending for 2025 is expected to be $5.6 trillion, according to the Health Affairs National Health Expenditure Projections. And over the next decade, America’s medical bills are projected to grow about 1.5% faster every year than GDP. In 2025, Medicare was the largest line item in the United States’ spending budget, accounting for 17.8%.
Burlison believes the solution lies in his Make America Healthy Again Accounts, which he is spearheading alongside Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The accounts are “a supercharged, tax-free health account” and would allow individuals to contribute $25,000 tax-free and $50,000 per family every year. The money in the accounts rolls over each year and never expires.
“The unique idea that we have,” Burlison told The Daily Wire, “is we’re going to allow for a particular amount of money out of this account to be spent on healthy food, protein, produce, vitamin supplements, and yes, maybe a gym membership, so that people are encouraged. Don’t go buy junk food, go buy unprocessed healthy food. And if you do buy it, we’re going to give you a tax deduction on that.”
Burlison says employers will be able to contribute to the account, allowing them to “help cover premiums or out-of-pocket expenses without wasting money on the current bloated system.” He wants every account to come with a $5,000 interest-free credit line for deductibles or unexpected costs.
His pitch to the House comes right as the Senate failed to advance two competing health care proposals authored to replace the Affordable Care Act subsidies, which are set to expire at the end of this year. Democrats continue to advocate for an extension of Obamacare that would increase the deficit by $350 billion if made permanent. “The American people made it clear they wanted the ACA tax credits extended,” said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.
Burlison, however, compared the extension to throwing money on a sinking ship.
“I think it’s a fool’s errand to throw money down on the sinking ship,” said Burlison. “Instead, we really need to reform healthcare and let people purchase the healthcare that they truly want and need.”
Speaker Mike Johnson says he has plans to hold a floor vote on a GOP plan next week.
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