Senate deal aims to revive insurer payments
WASHINGTON — Republican and Democratic senators joined in announcing a plan Tuesday aimed at stabilizing America’s health insurance markets in the wake of President Donald Trump’s order to terminate Obamacare subsidies.
Trump himself spoke approvingly of the deal, but some conservatives denounced it as an insurance company bailout, making its future uncertain.
The agreement followed weeks of negotiations between Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-tenn., and Sen. Patty Murray, D-wash., that sought to address health insurance markets that have been in limbo following GOP failures to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act.
The Alexander-murray deal would continue the insurer payments for two years while establishing new flexibility for states under former President Barack Obama’s law.
“This would allow the Senate to continue its debate about the long term of health care, but over the next two years I think Americans won’t have to worry about the possibility of being able to buy insurance in counties where they live,” Alexander said in announcing the deal after a closed-door lunch where he presented it to GOP senators.
“This agreement avoids chaos. I don’t know a Republican or Democrat who benefits from chaos,” he said.
The Alexander-murray deal includes a host of provisions allowing states faster and easier access to waivers that would allow them to shape their own marketplace plans under Obamacare. It also would provide for a new low-cost catastrophic coverage insurance option for all consumers.
Alexander said the president had encouraged his efforts in phone calls over the past two weeks. And at the White House, Trump responded positively, expressing optimism that Republicans would ultimately succeed in repealing Obamacare, but until then, “For one year, two years, we’re going to have a very good solution.”