More money is going to be needed to fund high-risk pools if the Senate stays with the House bill repealing Obamacare, according to key Republican centrist Sen. Susan Collins of Maine.
House Republicans turned to Collins’ home state of Maine as an example of a high-risk pool program that subsidizes coverage for sick people. But the Republican centrist told reporters Tuesday that if the Senate decides to go the same route with their healthcare bill, they had better fork over more money.
“If you are really talking about replicating what Maine did, it would take $15 billion a year, which I do not see in the House bill,” Collins said.
The American Health Care Act provided $15 billion for high-risk pools over nine years and an extra $8 billion over five years. States could use the money that is leftover from a $100 billion stability fund that was intended to prop up individual Obamacare markets.
“The House bill, despite claims that it is just modeled on Maine’s law, would have to have a great deal more funding,” Collins said.
The comments echo other experts who said that much more funding is needed for the high-risk pools.
Before the Affordable Care Act prohibited insurers from denying coverage or charging higher rates to people with pre-existing conditions, more than 30 states had high-risk pools.
Maine’s program differed in that insurers offering plans in the state had to contribute a small amount to the pools.
Under the American Health Care Act, which was narrowly passed by the House last week, states can opt out of a mandate that prevents insurers from charging more money to people with a pre-existing illness such as cancer or diabetes, but only if they adopt a high-risk pool. Republicans say the pools would ensure that people with pre-existing illnesses continue to get affordable coverage.
