States would be given temporary flexibility to expand health insurance options for those who rely on Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies under a bill introduced on Wednesday by Senate Republicans.
U.S. Sens. Rob Portman (R-OH), Lamar Alexander (R-TN), Kelly Ayotte (R-NH), John Barrasso (R-WY), Thad Cochran (R-MS) and Ron Johnson (R-WI) introduced the State Flexibility to Provide Affordable Health Options Act.
“Ohioans need immediate relief from the skyrocketing cost of Obamacare.” Portman said. “Premiums have increased in Ohio more than 90 percent since the president’s health care law went into place. This bill would provide individuals who have suffered under the high costs and fewer choices of Obamacare more options to receive coverage — which means more competition, which in turn brings down costs. After eight years of stagnating wages, slow economic growth, and a rising cost of living, Ohioans deserve the relief this legislation would provide, not a health care system they can’t afford.”
Under the bill, states with failing ACA exchanges would be given authority to allow healthcare consumers to purchase any health plan using ACA subsidies, including plans that aren’t included on exchanges, for the 2017 plan year.
“This one-year solution is not a substitute for the long-term need to repeal and replace Obamacare with step-by-step reforms that transform the health care delivery system by putting patients in charge, giving them more choices and reducing the cost of health care so that more people can afford it,” Alexander, the chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, said. “That would require a Republican president next year, but it gives Americans a real solution for next year and lets them know that we are on their side. Even if we have a Democratic president next year, we cannot continue without making big, structural changes soon to avoid a collapse of our nation’s health insurance market.”
The legislation would waive a provision of the ACA that requires individuals to purchase a specific plan or pay a fine of up to $2,000 per year — if state officials exercise their authority to use it.
“More than 11,000 people in my home state recently learned that they would have to find a new health care plan after an insurer announced that it would be leaving the New Hampshire partnership exchange next year,” Ayotte said. “Higher premiums and fewer choices are impacting real people today, and hardworking Granite Staters can’t afford to keep taking these hits. Our legislation would provide a temporary means to lessen the burdens of Obamacare on New Hampshire families and individuals by allowing eligible individuals to use a subsidy to purchase health insurance outside of the exchanges, which may offer less expensive options than plans available through the exchanges. This bill will help bring back some much-needed flexibility and choice in the health insurance marketplace, both of which Obamacare has limited.”
Barrasso noted that there would be two or fewer carriers offering coverage on exchanges in more than half of the counties across America without congressional action.
“Hard-working families facing higher premiums because of Obamacare deserve relief,” Barasso said. “This legislation will give families more choices in 2017, as Republicans work to replace this failed law with real reforms that will make health care more affordable for all Americans.”
Cochran said that the ACA has resulted in fewer and more expensive choices for Americans.
“This legislation would increase options for families in Mississippi and elsewhere to obtain health insurance without being locked into troubled Obamacare exchanges,” Cochran said.
Johnson said that he has worked for years to limit the damage and harm done to people under the healthcare law.
“This bill would provide necessary relief to Wisconsinites who, under Obamacare, would be penalized for not purchasing a product that they cannot afford or does not meet their needs,” Johnson said. “It will allow the state to provide Wisconsinites receiving subsidies more options than just those offered on the Obamacare exchanges for 2017.”