Alexander: Obamacare Exchange Is “Very Near Collapse.” Americans need immediate relief from the cost of health insurance and a lack of options on the Obamacare exchanges.

Published on Sep 7, 2016 -Today, Senate health committee Chairman Lamar Alexander spoke on the Senate floor about the alarming number of health insurance companies leaving Obamacare exchanges and the need to act on behalf of Americans struggling with the cost of health insurance. Alexander said he intends to introduce legislation soon to “provide relief” from “the cost of health insurance and a lack of options on the Obamacare exchanges.”

Alexander said, “Unfortunately, I don't need to look any further than my home state of Tennessee to see how bad things have become. When Tennesseans woke up on August 24 and read the front page of our state's largest newspaper, they saw this headline: ‘Very near collapse.’ …What does very near collapse mean in the real world? This November, when Tennesseans are signing up for 2017 Obamacare plans, there will be fewer plans to choose from, and they'll be much more expensive. And this picture will be the same across the country.”

He continued, “Next year, Tennesseans will be paying intolerable increases. On average between 44% and 62% more for their Obamacare plans than they paid last year … And if you, the policyholder, don't pay all of that, then you, the taxpayer, will. Because a large portion of Obamacare premiums are subsidized with tax dollars. Surely it's no valid excuse to say that just because taxpayers are paying most of the bill that justifies having a failing insurance market where costs are so out of control that we may soon have a situation where no insurance company is willing to sell insurance on an Obamacare exchange.”

“Millions of Americans need relief from Obamacare,” Alexander said. “Here's the action that's needed: First, Americans need immediate relief from the cost of health insurance and a lack of options on the Obamacare exchanges. We should do that by giving states more flexibility to give individuals and their families options to purchase lower-cost, private health insurance plans outside of Obamacare and we should do that now. I intend to offer legislation that would provide that relief. That is only to deal with the emergency of next year, 2017. Second, we need a big, structural change in order to avoid a near collapse of our nation's health insurance market. If there's a Republican in the White House next year, we need to repeal Obamacare and replace it with step-by-step reforms that transform the health care delivery system, by putting patients in charge, giving them more choices and reducing the cost of health care so that more people can afford it. But if there is a Democrat in the White House, broad systemic structural changes will still be necessary. Republicans didn't create this problem, but we're prepared to solve it. ”

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