Republicans in Congress are scrambling to assure the millions of Americans who currently depend on the Affordable Care Act insurance market that they will not lose coverage if Congress makes good on its promise to repeal the ACA during the first months of the Trump administration.
Some GOP leaders have said that while they are committed to quickly passing legislation to repeal the law, the bill will likely not take effect for up to three years. That allows Republicans to claim political victory before they delve into the messy affair of crafting an alternative health care plan.
The problem is, insurers are looking for long-term business, and many are expected to ditch the marketplace if they know it won’t be around in three years.
A mass exodus of insurers could lead to the market’s collapse, a situation that GOP lawmakers are trying to prevent in talks with industry leaders.
GOP sources tell The Hill that Republicans are considering trying to keep insurers in the marketplace by offering some type of financial assistance.
That move may be politically awkward, of course, since it was Republicans who derided the ACA’s “risk corridor” program as a bailout of insurers. House Republicans also sued the Obama administration over payments the Department of Health and Human Services was making to insurers to get them to offer discounted health plans to low-income customers.
“They want to pump money back in to the insurers without appearing like they’re giving them a handout or bailing them out,” a lobbyist with knowledge of the talks tells The Hill.
The vision for the ACA replacement remains vague. Although President-elect Donald Trump embraced a wide variety of health positions throughout his campaign, and signaled support for key provisions of Obamacare shortly after the election, his choice for HHS Secretary, Tom Price, is a staunch advocate of market-based health care policies. Price proposed a plan in the past that relies largely on offering tax credits to help individuals purchase plans.
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