Campaign Action
Almost never do you see the insurance company industry group America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) and all of the major patient advocacy groups on the same side of a health policy issue. But they're united in hating Sen. Ted Cruz's Trumpcare effort to allow insurers to sell plans that don't meet Obamacare's regulations as long as they offer one which does comply. AHIP argues that the proposal would cause a "death spiral" of high premiums and low enrollments.
America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) warns in a position paper obtained by The Hill that the proposal from Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Mike Lee (R-Utah) would cause people with pre-existing conditions to “potentially lose access to comprehensive coverage and/or have plans that were far more expensive, as premiums in the Exchange market would rise much faster than under existing market conditions.” […]
But the insurers, and many health experts, warn that sick people would be the only ones left in the more expensive, comprehensive ObamaCare plans, spiking those premiums.
“The Exchange markets would basically function like a high-risk pool—with unaffordable premiums for those with pre-existing conditions,” AHIP said. “As premiums rose, only those with the highest health needs and expenses would remain thereby accelerating the decline in the Exchange market.”
The AARP, American Cancer Society-Cancer Action Network, American Heart Association, American Lung Association, March of Dimes, and many other patient advocacy groups make the same argument in a letter to senators. They argue that the proposal would create two risk pools, one for younger, healthier people and another for sick people, one that would soon become too expensive for them. They argue that there's nothing in the proposal made public so far that would offset these effects, writing that the "combination of premium subsidies for lower-income Americans and the state stabilization fund envisioned in BCRA would be radically insufficient to prevent the implementation of similar enrollment and access restrictions in the BCRA high-risk marketplace envisioned by the Cruz amendment."
The proposal might not pass muster under Senate rules, anyway, but these organizations are concerned enough by the fact that it's even being considered by Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to lobby against it. It's all the excuse any not-extreme Republican senator needs to oppose Cruz. Like they needed one.
Time to jam the phone lines--Republicans still want to pass Trumpcare! Even if you called before, call your Senator at (202) 224-3121. Tell them Trumpcare is SICK, MEAN and CRUEL. Then, tell us how it went.