August 2017

With the stall of partisan efforts to repeal the ACA, there appears to be a renewed interest in bipartisan efforts to address health care. Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee chairman Sen. Alexander (R-TN) and ranking member Sen. Murray (D-WA) have announced they will hold committee hearings the week of Sept. 4 on proposals to stabilize and strengthen the individual health insurance market by providing long-term funding for CSR payments and increased state flexibility in plan design. The committee is aiming to draft and pass a "small, bipartisan and balanced" package by the insurer contract deadline of Sept. 27. The HELP Committee has a reputation of bipartisanship that is better than most congressional committees, so this health reform effort seems the most likely to progress.

In the House of Representatives, a bipartisan group calling themselves the House Problem Solving Caucus, co-chaired by Reps. Reed (R-NY) and Gottheimer (D-NJ), has developed proposals to maintain CSR payments, raise the employer insurance mandate threshold from 50 to 500 employees and permit more state flexibility with essential health benefit requirements.

The ATS will keep members informed of the developments on health reform.