Thursday, May 24, 2018

States Are Offering Relief From Rising Health Care Costs. Here's How Congress Can Help.

Short of repealing and replacing the Obamacare regulatory regime that contributes directly to artificially high health insurance costs in state markets, states can apply for Section 1332 waivers, available under current law, that exempt states from various Obamacare rules.

Such waivers would allow states to redeploy existing federal funding and redesign and manage their own health reinsurance programs, to offset the costs of high-risk enrollees, and thus stabilize their own health insurance markets.

State health insurance markets are radically diverse, and health care costs often vary sharply from state to state.

Finally, health care costs and insurance premiums are also dependent upon the competitiveness of state health insurance markets, as well as the extent to which Medicare and Medicaid affect those markets, as well as the penetration of employer-sponsored health insurance.

Congress should heed the consensus advice of a wide range of conservative health policy analysts and restore the primacy of state authority over health insurance markets.

Restoration of state authority over health insurance markets is only a first step in a much bigger agenda for comprehensive health care reform.

In the meantime, state legislators would be directly accountable to the people they serve for the health care policies they adopt, including their health insurance rules, their ability to control costs, and their progress in expanding coverage.

https://www.dailysignal.com/2018/05/23/states-are-offering-relief-from-rising-health-care-costs-heres-how-congress-can-help/

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