Regardless of what happens in Congress over how to change Obamacare, the fifth open enrollment season when customers can sign up for subsidized health insurance will be held in the fall. The landscape looks dire: Insurers are fleeing, leaving empty counties behind, and premiums in many states will rise by double digits.

Enter reinsurance, a measure with bipartisan support that has a track record of reducing premiums. The program injects federal funding into the system, with parameters, so that medical costs for sicker enrollees are covered without significantly raising the cost of premiums for those who use the system less. Reinsurance programs were implemented nationwide under Obamacare, with $10 billion paid out in 2014, $6 billion in 2015, and $4 billion in 2016. The program was intended to provide stability as the exchanges were starting and was never meant to be permanent. Now, some lawmakers would like to bring it back.