ABC This Week interviews during 2015: on Health Care

Donald Trump: Replace Obamacare with Health Savings Accounts

TRUMP: Well, I'm OK with the savings accounts. I think it's a good idea; it's a very down-the-middle idea. It works. It's something that's proven. The one thing we have to do is repeal and replace ObamaCare. It is a disaster. People's premiums are going up 35 percent, 45 percent, 55 percent. Their deductibles are so high nobody's ever going to get to use it. So ObamaCare is turning out to be a bigger disaster than anybody thought.

Q: So if you agree with these health savings accounts idea, do you also agree with Ben Carson when he says Medicare probably won't be necessary?

TRUMP: Well, it's possible. You're going to have to look at that, but I'll tell you what, the health savings accounts, I've been talking about it also. I think it's a very good idea.

Ben Carson: Health Savings Accounts make insurance companies irrelevant

CARSON: I've subsequently switched over to a health savings account. You know, I was trying to work within the framework of what we have. But I've concluded that what we had simply did not work. And one of the reasons it didn't work is because insurance companies made profits by denying people care. And that, of course, is a total conflict of interest. But utilizing the health savings account system that I've talked about more recently, I think,

Ben Carson: Health Savings Accounts make Medicaid less relevant

CARSON: The annual Medicaid budget is $400 billion to $500 billion a year. We have about 80 million people participating; that's $5,000 each. Most concierge practices charge $2,000 to $3,000 a year. And then you still have thousands left over for your catastrophic insurance, which is much cheaper now since everything is coming out of your HSA. And the interesting thing is people say poor people wouldn't be able to manage a health savings account. Of course they would be able to manage it.

Q: But those health savings accounts are only $2,000 a person. That's a fraction of what the cost of an average family's health insurance.

CARSON: Well, the $2,000 figure was when I was thinking about the government funding it. But I've subsequently decided the better thing to do is to allow it to be funded through the same channels that regular health care is funded through. The money is already there, so why change that?

Lawrence Lessig: ObamaCare public option was compromised to special interests

LESSIG: Yes, they could say that, but of course, you have to remember when health care was passed, we had a super majority in the Senate and we had a majority in the House. And even health care had to make important compromises to the special interests so drug prices can't be negotiated because pharmaceutical companies said they would spend millions to defeat Democrats and the public option that the president promised was thrown out the window when insurance companies said they would spend millions to defeat Democrats. So even the most important thing he did--and I'm a big supporter of the president, he's been an amazing president--but the most important thing he did is compromised by the corrupt way in which we fund campaigns.

Mia Love: Get decision-making back in the hands of the American people

LOVE: We have to again get the decision-making back in the hands of the American people and that means doing everything we can to change the current policy, the current ACA policy.

LOVE: Look, I was elected by my districts to make sure that we get the decision-making back in their hands. And I have said that I was going to do everything I can to repeal and replace it with something that is functional and get--with broad health care reforms, free market health care reforms. And that's exactly what I'm going to do.