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[Pages H6046-H6047]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
IMPROVING CHOICES IN HEALTHCARE COVERAGE
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from
North Carolina (Mr. Budd) for 5 minutes.
[[Page H6047]]
Mr. BUDD. Mr. Speaker, the cost of health insurance is on the minds
of many Americans this summer, and it should be.
Nearly half a million people in North Carolina buy their health
insurance on the ObamaCare marketplace. The average price for these
plans continues to go up each and every year.
This wouldn't be as much of an issue if there were many options to
choose from, but, unfortunately, there are not. Blue Cross, the only
insurer that is still in all 100 counties in our State, announced that
they were raising rates by an average of nearly 19 percent going into
2017. Then they raised them again this year by over 14 percent. I
expect them to do the same next year, the year after that, and in
coming years after that.
It is clear to me that the individual mandate didn't actually lower
the cost of health insurance, and bailing out big insurance companies
certainly didn't help either.
Mr. Speaker, as you know very well, we need an off-ramp from
ObamaCare. We need a solution that allows for more competition, because
competition drives down prices and allows people to purchase health
insurance without going bankrupt.
While we continue to work toward getting a full repeal and replace on
the President's desk, I believe we should also pass a simple bill right
now that would provide millions of Americans a way to buy more
affordable health insurance
Short-term, limited-duration medical plans are designed to provide
coverage for a limited time when someone is between health insurance
policies--individuals who are between jobs, for example--but these
plans are also exempt from having to abide by ObamaCare's regulatory
regime.
The Obama administration was concerned with these plans becoming
attractive alternatives to ObamaCare. So before they left office in
2016, they issued a regulation that defined these short-term policies
as those that are less than 3 months long.
I believe strengthening these types of plans would be a huge step in
the right direction. That is why, last month, I introduced a simple
bill called the Improving Choices in Health Care Coverage Act.
This bill would do two simple things. It would allow people to stay
on these less expensive, short-term medical plans for as long as 364
days, and it would allow them to renew these plans for multiple years.
According to the American Action Forum, which looked at different
findings from the Congressional Budget Office, the Urban Institute, and
the Commonwealth Fund, there seems to be a consensus that these plans
would be attractive to consumers because of their low premiums, and,
thus, enrollment would likely be into the millions.
I hear from constituents every time I go back home that their monthly
premiums are way too high. Mr. Speaker, this bill is one way we can
relieve some of their financial stress. With looming announcements by
big insurance companies that they are again going to be increasing
premiums, the time to act is now.
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