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August 31, 2017 at 01:00 PM
A bipartisan group of eight governors is calling for changes to the Affordable Care Act that would increase funding under the law, enforce some of its rules on buying insurance, and encourage more health insurers to participate in the ACA public exchange program.
The proposal, led by Ohio Republican John Kasich and Democrat John Hickenlooper of Colorado, comes as premiums under the program continue to rise in many states and as insurers have pulled out of the individual major medical market.
“We need immediate action to ensure consumers have affordable options in the short term,” the governors said in the letter, which was sent to Democratic and Republican leaders of Congress. “Continuing uncertainty about the direction of federal policy is driving up premiums, eliminating competition, and leaving consumers with fewer choices.”
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Republicans’ failed efforts to make broad changes to the Affordable Care Act have now shifted to smaller, potentially bipartisan reforms. The governors, in their letter, avoid one of the most contentious parts of the repeal debate earlier this year — the ACA expansion of Medicaid to millions of more low-income Americans — because they said the market for individual coverage needs to be fixed first.
The Affordable Care Act relies on private insurers to offers coverage through the exchange system. It provides subsidies to many consumers. But many insurers have taken losses in those markets markets.
They’ve also struggled to deal with President Donald Trump’s threats to undermine the law or push it toward failure. Insurers’ retreat has left almost a quarter of enrollees with just one insurance-company option next year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Push for Changes
