Legislation has been offered by Senator Thom Tillis, a North Carolina Republican, as a contingency for pre-existing conditions in the event the Texas lawsuit succeeds. Levitt said the protections are "something of a mirage" as they’d allow insurers to exclude benefits under some circumstances and charge higher premiums.
Another bill by House Energy and Commerce Chairman Greg Walden, an Oregon Republican. doesn’t accomplish its stated goal of preventing higher premiums for pre-existing conditions, Levitt said.
‘Details Matter’
"The details matter enormously in insurance regulation," he said.
Texas Representative Pete Sessions, locked in a competitive re-election race, helped shepherd the bill through the House as Rules Committee chairman that would open the door for insurers to raise costs for covering pre-existing conditions. He’s backed away from that by offering a separate bill with some protections as well as proposing a nonbinding resolution that calls for lower premiums, out-of-pocket costs, and more provider choices to people with pre-existing conditions.
The Sessions resolution was co-signed by Renacci and Cramer. Other signatories include GOP candidates facing difficult re-election challenges, including New York’s Claudia Tenney, Michigan’s Mike Bishop and New York’s John Faso, all of whom have taken heat for supporting the Republican-backed American Health Care Act, which passed the House and stalled in the Senate.
Some Republicans are counter-attacking by claiming Democrats are pushing to replace private insurance with a government-run health system, something most of the party hasn’t embraced. House Speaker Paul Ryan on Monday said the debate is presenting a “false choice” because everyone supports protections for pre-existing conditions.
Health-care premiums have been on the rise in recent decades, before and after the ACA, squeezing middle-class families. Many obtained coverage for the first time after the law passed, including those with pre-existing conditions who had been shut out of the market. The uninsured rate among non-elderly adults fell from 18.2 percent to 10.3 percent since 2010, according to an August estimate by the Kaiser Family Foundation.
Even Republicans who voted against the House GOP bill are facing attacks because of the actions of their party leaders. An ad from Democrat Jennifer Wexton derisively labeled Virginia Republican Representative Barbara Comstock "Barbara Trumpstock" and depicted her as being "against protections for pre-existing conditions. She voted against her party’s House legislation.
This article was provided by Bloomberg News.