Collins, Walden, Costello push bicameral amendment to reduce healthcare premiums

U.S. Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME) and Lamar Alexander (R-TN) and U.S. Reps. Greg Walden (R-OR) and Ryan Costello (R-PA) on March 19 unveiled bicameral legislation that could lower health insurance premiums for Americans who purchase coverage on the individual market.

The lawmakers have requested their proposal, to be called the Bipartisan Health Care Stabilization Act of 2018, be included as an amendment in the omnibus spending bill, the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act of 2018, S. 1771, which congressional appropriators are currently working on.

“Our recommendations are based upon Senate and House proposals developed in several bipartisan hearings and roundtable discussions,” the lawmakers said in a joint statement. According to information provided by Rep. Costello’s staff, preliminary Congressional Budget Office forecasts indicate that the lawmakers’ proposal could be adopted without adding to the federal debt.

Additionally, the members noted that they received verification on March 12 in analysis from health care experts at Oliver Wyman, a global management consulting firm, comparing their proposal to what enrollees in the individual market would pay if Congress doesn’t include the measure in S. 1771.

“According to independent experts, our proposal would reduce premiums in the individual market by up to 40 percent for farmers, songwriters and small business men and women, and others who don’t receive insurance from the government or from their employer and who pay for insurance on their own,” the lawmakers said. “A self-employed plumber making $60,000 may be paying $20,000 for health insurance. Over time, our proposal could cut up to $8,000 from that insurance bill.”

Oliver Wyman also estimated that an additional 3.2 million people would be covered in the non-group market under the proposal.

If enacted, the proposal would revise Section 1332 Affordable Care Act (ACA) State Innovation Waivers; provide $10 billion in annual funding over three years for invisible high-risk pools and reinsurance programs; authorize a new level of “copper plans” enabling anyone to purchase catastrophic coverage; and provide three years of cost-sharing reduction subsidies for people who are 250 percent below the poverty level and receive government subsidies for deductibles and copays, according to a summary provided by the senators’ offices.

Among several other provisions, the proposal would require the secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to take steps to issue regulations allowing health plans to be sold across state lines and would authorize states to add additional requirements to enhance transparency of short-term limited duration insurance plans, according to the summary.

Sen. Alexander is chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee and Rep. Walden is chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee.