Senate Republican Plan to Repeal Mandate Risks Higher Premiums
15 November 2017 - 12:57AM
Dow Jones News
By Stephanie Armour
Republican plans to end the Affordable Care Act's rule that most
people must have health insurance would allow consumers who don't
want coverage to shed it, but it could drive premiums higher for
those who keep it.
Eliminating the so-called individual mandate would increase the
number of people without insurance by four million, according to
the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, a number that it says
would rise to 13 million by 2027.
But those who buy private insurance, rather than getting it at
work or through a government program, would see their premiums rise
by about 10% in most years of the coming decade, the CBO has
forecast.
The individual mandate requires most people who can afford
coverage to have it. Those who decline must pay a fine of 2.5% of
household income or $695 a person, whichever is higher. About seven
million people in 2016 reported paying a penalty for not having
coverage the year before, according to the Internal Revenue
Service.
The mandate's goal is to ensure that young, healthy people
obtain coverage to help offset the costs of older and sicker
consumers. Knocking down the mandate would result in higher
premiums because those healthier people would be less likely to
purchase insurance if they don't face a penalty.
Democrats and industry groups castigated Senate Republicans on
Tuesday for including the repeal in their tax package. An array of
industry groups -- including the American Medical Association and
America's Health Insurance Plans, a major insurers' organization --
wrote congressional leaders urging them to keep the mandate.
"The tax bill is going to hit the American people with a
health-care double whammy," said Sen. Ron Wyden (D., Ore.), warning
that millions would lose their health insurance or pay higher
premiums.
But some House Republicans applauded Senate Republicans' move
after House GOP leaders opted not to include the repeal in their
own tax overhaul, wary of political complications.
"It appears the Senate is keeping its promises," said the House
Republican Study Committee, a conservative group that represents
numerous GOP House members. "The House should do the same. Let's
repeal the individual mandate and restart the process of repealing
Obamacare."
The inclusion of the mandate will likely be accompanied by a
move to advance bipartisan legislation aimed at shoring up the
ACA's fragile individual insurance markets. That legislation would
restore payments that insurers use for subsidies to low-income
consumers. Mr. Trump recently cut off those payments, saying they
hadn't been properly authorized by Congress.
Democrats have called for a vote on the bipartisan bill, but GOP
leaders have been reluctant to bring it to the floor because Mr.
Trump has suggested he wouldn't back it.
Republicans now say they hope to vote on the legislation as a
way to diminish any disruption in the individual insurance market
sparked by repealing the individual mandate.
Democrats are in agreement that the bipartisan bill would help
ease rising prices on the individual insurance markets, but they
have argued that the mandate should be preserved to further
stabilize the markets.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
November 14, 2017 19:42 ET (00:42 GMT)
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