Susan Collins: Health-care fix will pass before tax bill

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) said early Thursday that she expects legislation to lower health-care premiums to pass Congress before senators take a final vote on a $1.5 trillion tax-reform bill that would repeal the Affordable Care Act's individual mandate.

Collins, speaking to reporters at a Christian Science Monitor breakfast, said it’s a mistake to scrap the individual mandate without making other reforms to the health-care system.

“When you take out that one provision from the ACA it causes premiums to go up as healthier, younger people leave the market place,” she said.

Senate GOP leaders at the urging of conservatives have added to the tax package a provision that would repeal ObamaCare’s requirement that people purchase health coverage. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that could cause insurance premiums to rise and increase the number of uninsured by 13 million people by 2027.

To mitigate the impact, GOP leaders plan to pass legislation negotiated by Senate Health Committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and Sen. Patty Murray (Wash.) that would reinstate cost-sharing reduction payments to insurance companies.

It will be paired with legislation sponsored by Collins and Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) that would set up health reinsurance programs for older and sicker individuals.

http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/362537-collins-health-care-fix-will-pass-before-tax-bill

Sorry but I think she's daydreaming.

[guillaumeb]

1. Collins loves to pose as a GOP moderate, but she dances to McConnell's tune. eom

[tomp]

4. If you're not a far left democrat or outright socialist you are part of the problem

"Moderate republicans" are not even close, and in fact the term is an outright oxymoron.

[guillaumeb]

9. The term moderate Republican is indeed an oxymoron.

There are centrist Democrats, but no centrist Republicans.

[rainin]

2. I'm trying to understand what

cost-sharing reduction payments to insurance companies means. If you remove the mandate, it is estimated that millions of healthy people will exit the marketplace which has 2 clear consequences: healthy people will be uninsured (hope you don't break a leg or get pregnant) and sick people will see their premiums go up, up, up, driving sick people out of the market because insurance is unaffordable. So far, right?

Now, we negotiate cost-sharing reduction payments to insurance companies which means (correct me if I'm wrong) taxpayers will pay insurance companies a subsidy to keep insurance costs from spiraling out of control for the very sick. Is this correct?

So, we pay insurance companies so we don't have to insure healthy young people?

What am I missing? Am I even close?

[subterranean]

7. The cost sharing reduction payments are part of the ACA.

The CSR payments to insurance companies help to reduce deductibles and co-pays for those below a certain income level. tRump ended those subsidies in October by executive order, but under the law, the insurance companies still have to cover that cost. Since they're no longer being compensated for that by the Federal government, they have to jack up premiums. And that's what they did. The premiums for my current plan are increasing 20% next year and the deductible is doubling.

Removing the mandate will likely push premiums even higher if younger, healthier people drop their insurance. Reinstating the CSR payments should make them go up a little less, at least in theory. But it might have little effect in practice because the insurance companies know that tRump could revoke the subsidies again at any time.

[rainin]

8. Thank you.

[NightWatcher]

3. I'm hearing the tax vote may come Friday, when would she get her promised fix?

She's being played.

[maxrandb]

6. She's NOT being played

WE ARE!!!!

In today's situation, there is only one solution for ANYONE that has an "R" after their name. They need to get the shit beat out of them at the ballot box, everywhere from Senator, to Governor, to Dog-Shit "Picker-Upper".

I'm sick of their fucking phony "Good Cop-Bad-Cop" shit. The only good Retrumplican politician is one who IS THE FUCKING OUT OF POWER

There is not a God damned redeemable person in the entire fucking lot of them.

[standingtall]

5. She wants to set up

health reinsurance for older and sicker individuals? Is she drunk? Sounds like high risk pools to me. High risk pools have never worked largely, because they are never properly funded. How is this going to be funded while giving a massive tax break to the wealthy?