House and Senate Republican committee leaders introduced an Obamacare stabilization package that is more conservative than a bipartisan package that has stalled in the Senate.
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch and House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady introduced the Healthcare Market Certainty and Mandate Relief Act on Wednesday. It would delay enforcement of Obamacare’s individual and employer mandates in exchange for insurer payments that President Trump has halted and led to major increases in premiums.
The lawmakers said their version has a better chance of passing the House and getting President Trump’s signature than bipartisan legislation introduced by Sens. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., and Patty Murray, D-Wash. That legislation gave state flexibility from Obamacare regulations in exchange for funding the payments for two years.
“Recent proposals to address the individual markets do not have the support needed to clear both chambers of Congress and become law,” said Hatch, R-Utah. “Our legislation provides temporary relief for Americans while starting to undo the most harmful aspects of Obamacare – a priority for many members.”
The bill from Hatch and Brady, R-Texas, would delay enforcement of the individual and employer mandates for the next few years. It also would expand use of health savings accounts.
Brady and Hatch introduced a framework for the legislation last month, and Democrats bashed it.
Murray called on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Wednesday to bring up the legislation she crafted with Alexander. The bill has support from 12 Republicans and all Democrats, meaning it would have the 60 votes needed to break a filibuster.
But McConnell has been hesitant to bring up the bill because President Trump and House Speaker Paul Ryan oppose it.
Trump has called the payments insurer “bailouts” even though they reimburse insurers for lowering co-pays and deductibles for low-income customers on Obamacare’s exchanges. Insurers are required to lower such out-of-pocket costs and will raise premiums as much as 38 percent in some states to recoup the costs, according to an independent estimate.
