Calendar ’s Turn Brings New Congressional Approach To Health Reform

As congressional Republicans tried to adopt one bill after another all summer long by narrow partisan margins, they kept hearing the same message from Democrats and others: Why not try bipartisanship? Why not hold hearings, as the Democrats did in the spring and summer of 2009 leading up to the adoption of the ACA, and hear what stakeholders and experts from across the political spectrum think needs to be done to fix health care. The Hearing Line-Up As September begins, the Senate has scheduled a host of hearings. The Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, led by Senators Lamar Alexander (R-TN) and Patty Murray (D-WA), is hosting the most extensive hearings, collectively titled “Stabilizing Premiums and Helping Individuals in the Individual Insurance Market for 2018.” Yesterday, September 6, 2017, they heard from five state insurance commissioners. Today, September 7, they heard from five governors—three Republican and two Democratic, but all moderate in their orientation. On September 12, 2017 the Committee will hear from a health plan executive, the CEO of a state exchange, a former Republican Health and Human Services Secretary, an actuary, and the representative of an advocacy group that opposes government financing and regulation of health care. The final hearing on September 14 will include a hospital CEO, and insurer vice president, a representative for an organization that advocates for health care for young people, the head of a group that spo...
Source: Health Affairs Blog - Category: Health Management Authors: Tags: Following the ACA Insurance and Coverage Source Type: blogs