The top officers of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners have included a plea for respect for their AHP oversight rights in a letter they sent earlier this month to the Republican and Democratic leaders of the House and the Senate.

The bill, which would also apply to TPAs, came close to becoming law in December but ran into resistance from Elon Musk.

Open enrollment would end Dec. 15 everywhere, and special enrollment period users would face more scrutiny.

If regulators stick with the current ICHRA rules, the ICHRA program "has the potential to lower individual market premiums by improving the risk profile," the actuaries write.

If employees can buy the coverage through an off-exchange Section 125 cafeteria plan, then the employees can pay the premiums with pre-tax earnings, the executives say.

The nomination for Daniel Aronowitz to lead EBSA, the department's benefits arm, is still pending.

Roughly 79% of the Republicans and just 42% of the Democrats agreed that "there's too much government regulation in health care today."

The full Senate is about to vote on his DOL pick, and a committee has scheduled a hearing on Dr. Oz.