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Insurers Call Cruz/GOP Insurance Plan “Simply Unworkable”

Senator Ted Cruz thinks he has fixed the Senate Republican health care plan with by adding a provision to allow insurers to sell whatever health insurance policies they want in a state as long as they offer at least one plan that complies with the Affordable Care Act (hey, wait—weren’t we going to repeal the Affordable Care Act?).

The logical result of Cruz’s “Consumer Freedom Option” will, of course, be nothing like freedom for millions of Americans with pre-existing conditions, who will find themselves segregated into the ACA-compliant plans, which will essentially turn into high-risk pools with the sickest and most costly patients, which will require ever higher premiums, which will price folks with pre-existing conditions out of their coverage.

But I’m not an insurance company, so what do I know? Let’s see what Blue Cross Blue Shield (whose members cover 106 million Americans) and America’s Health Insurance Plans (whose companies cover 200 million Americans) think of the Cruz proposal:

It is simply unworkable in any form and would undermine protections for those with pre-existing medical conditions, increase premiums and lead to widespread terminations of coverage for people currently enrolled in the individual market….

This would allow the new plans to ‘cherry pick’ only healthy people from the existing market making coverage unaffordable for the millions of people who need or want comprehensive coverage, including, for example, coverage for prescription drugs and mental health services….

The Consumer Freedom Option establishes a ‘single risk pool’ in name only. In fact, it creates two systems of insurance for healthy and sick people….

…this provision will lead to far fewer, if any, coverage options for consumers who purchase their plan in the individual market. As a result, millions of [sic] individuals will become uninsured [AHIP President/CEO Marilyn B. Tavenner and BCBS President/CEO Scott P. Serota, letter to Senators Mitch McConnell and Chuck Schumer, cited in Tierney Sneed, “Insurers Torch New Cruz Provision in TrumpCare: ‘Simply Unworkable’,” Talking Points Memo, 2017.07.15].

Simply unworkable. There is no simpler evaluation of the Republican Senate health care plan.

Donald Trump could try to fix this unworkable plan, but he’s busy watching women golf at his New Jersey club for the third day in a row. The Cruz plan is unworkable; the President is unworking.

6 Comments

  1. mike from iowa 2017-07-16 09:35

    McCTurtle had to postpone TC vote because McCShame needed surgery for a blood clot above his eye.

    Wingnuts have already lost 2 votes and can’t afford to lose anymore. Poll yesterday sez 61% of people polled hate the taxcut. Wingnuts aren’t paying much attention to the people.

  2. mike from iowa 2017-07-16 15:21

    What are you Free Pressers waiting for? You know Marlboro Barbie and Rounds are voting the party line on taxcuts for the wealthy. Why aren’t you dissing them already? Justl ike the party pack in iowa. I have a running conversation/insult email going out to Grassley regularly.

  3. jerry 2017-07-16 16:33

    So then, lets say that you are a young ranch family and you want to get one of those things called a child. NOem/Jackley and Daugaard done killed that Medicaid, so you get one of these trumpcare mini meds. Suddenly, you are in a debt so deep you can never recover, how is that the American dream?
    Who needs planned parenthood when you have these plans? Talk about a contraceptive, here you go. The IUD or Insanity Under the Donald. If your child has a health issue, they are gonna be stuck with the bill. So then you say to that precious bundle of joy, Jimmy, you’re gonna be working for the man starting as soon as you can diaper yourself. Work hard and pay the bill with interest, so long son, don’t bother calling because we do not even have an Obama phone anymore. http://www.kff.org/health-reform/perspective/what-is-a-mini-med-plan/

  4. Curt 2017-07-17 00:13

    Back to basics … Repeal means start over – wipe the slate clean. Go for it! You have the votes! You have a Comb-over who says he’ll sign anything, so figure out how to write it down! 50, that’s all you need. You hated ACA and said so – no reason to include any portion thereof in your shiny new plan. Forget it! Wanna go back to the good old days? No problem. (Sorry, wore out my exclamation point key.) You Repubs own this issue now – all you gotta do is pass one stinking bill. I’m waiting breathlessly for you to get on to lowering my burdensome taxes.

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