Alexander says Obamacare rate increases are ‘intolerable’
U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander, the Tennessee Republican who chairs the Senate health committee, will highlight today what he said is “an intolerable increase” in health care costs under the Affordable Care Act pushed by President Obama and approved without any GOP support six years ago.
In the weekly Republican radio address, Alexander says “Democrats will increase Washington’s control of your private health insurance choices” while “Republicans have offered a better idea” of letting competition in a free national market lower prices.
Alexander said the average 62 percent increase in the marketplace exchange plans for 2017 by the Chattanooga-based BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee proves that ObamaCare is not sustainable.
Obamacare supporters stress that federal subsidies will hold down those increases for most consumers and that the Affordable Care Act has helped nearly 20 million more Americans buy health insurance. But Alexander said that means government costs will increase that much more next year.
“Next year Tennesseans will be paying an intolerable increase — on average between 44 and 62 percent more for their Obamacare plans than they paid last year,” Alexander said in this week’s GOP message. “And if you, the policyholder, don’t pay all of it, then you, the taxpayer, will, because a large portion of Obamacare premiums are subsidized with tax dollars.”
Alexander noted that Tennessee insurance commissioner Julie Mix McPeak told the Nashville Tennessean Tuesday that Obamacare was “very near collapse” in Tennessee. Only three health insurers are still offering marketplace exchange plans in Tennessee — BlueCross, Cigna and Humana — and even BlueCross has hinted that it might not continue with the program because of market risks and uncertainties.
“Americans have a choice this election.” Alexander said. “Democrats will spend more of your taxpayer dollars to prop up the collapsing Obamacare exchanges. We want to help Americans struggling with the cost of health insurance immediately.”
Alexander said Republicans would give states more flexibility to give individuals and their families options to purchase lower-cost private health insurance plans outside of Obamacare.