The Suburban Times

A community bulletin board for Western Pierce County.

  • Home
  • To Know
  • To Do
  • To Ponder
  • Obituaries
  • Calendar
    • Submit an Event
  • Subscribe
  • Advertise
  • More
    • Share your story
    • Submit an Event
    • Contact

Republicans introduce legislation to address ACA glitches

January 13, 2014 By The Suburban Times

Washington House Republicans introduced legislation on the first day of the legislative session designed to help people who have lost their insurance keep some form of affordable health care.

Recently, President Obama and Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius have responded to reports that millions of Americans have been kicked off their coverage due to Obamacare. To mitigate the cancellations, both have announced policies that allow people to either keep their existing health care plans or be exempted from the individual mandate tax penalty and buy typically cheaper catastrophic care plans. Washington state’s Democratic insurance commissioner has not been supportive of allowing individuals to keep their pre-Obamacare plans.

Additionally, in 2012 legislation, Washington restricted the availability of the typically lower-cost catastrophic plans President Obama authorized to plans sold in the Healthcare Exchange. Plans will also be available for individuals who had plans cancelled, but only two carriers are offering the plans and they are not available statewide.

Because Washington was an early adopter of Obamacare, the low-cost catastrophic plans President Obama authorized are only available in the Healthcare Exchange. Plans will also be available for individuals who had plans cancelled, but only two carriers are offering the plans and they are not available statewide.

To overcome the Obamacare obstacles Rep. Matt Manweller has introduced two bills. The first would allow Washington residents to buy catastrophic health care plans in other states. The second bill would instruct the Office of the Insurance Commissioner to enter into compacts with other states to facilitate the purchase of health care plans from other states. This bill is similar to legislation introduced by Sen. Linda Evans Parlette which passed the Senate last year and was passed by the House Health Care Committee, but died in the House Appropriations Subcommittee on General Government and Information Technology.

“The Democrats who control our state leaped into Obamacare before they looked. They drove people off the health care plans they liked and eliminated all the low cost plans they could afford. Even President Obama has realized the mistakes of his plan and offered the American people an out,” said Manweller, R-Ellensburg. “Unfortunately, the plans President Obama said we can keep don’t exist in Washington anymore. Therefore, we need to let people buy them in other states. That will bring fairness back to our health care system.”

“It’s truly unfortunate that we did not get to vote on that bill last year,” said Joe Schmick, R-Colfax, who serves at the ranking member of the House Health Care Committee. “Since then, we have seen the disastrous impact Obamacare has had on our health care system. Now that President Obama has asked states to let people keep their insurance plans, I hope the Democrats will have a change of heart and give us an up or down vote on this important bill.”

Given the problems with the rollout of Obamacare’s individual mandate, Rep. J.T. Wilcox, R-Yelm, says he wants to prevent a similar debacle when the employer mandate hits. At the end of 2014, Obamacare will require employers with 50 or more full-time employees to provide health insurance or pay a penalty.

Wilcox will be introducing a bill later this week that would beef up legislative oversight of Obamacare implementation. The legislation aims to ensure the Legislature gets more detailed information on enrollment numbers and other coverage data.

“Reliable data was in short supply with the first Obamacare deadline,” said Wilcox, the House Republican Floor Leader. “At the moment we may not be able to protect people from the consequences of Obamacare, but we can at least make sure we get the facts about how it’s being implemented.”

House Republican leadership hopes to get the bills scheduled for public hearings early in the session.

“We need to solve this problem and we need to solve it now,” said Manweller. “We have people all over the state in limbo. They are getting cancelation notices from their insurers. The president is telling them it’s OK to keep their plans and the insurance commissioner is telling them they cannot. Meanwhile, people are getting sick and they have no insurance. If we don’t step in and solve this problem, people are going to suffer.”

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • More
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)

Related

Top Stories

  • Lakewood Police Officer Fires Weapon On Duty
    Lakewood Police Officer Fires Weapon On Duty
  • Some Pierce County restaurants open dining rooms under new open-air rules
    Some Pierce County restaurants open dining rooms under new open-air rules
  • Mass COVID vaccination sites planned for Pierce County
    Mass COVID vaccination sites planned for Pierce County
  • Final week of bridge girder work for new southbound I-5 Puyallup River Bridge
    Final week of bridge girder work for new southbound I-5 Puyallup River Bridge
  • What's Next, Tahoma Beer? - Name Changes . . . for the good
    What's Next, Tahoma Beer? - Name Changes . . . for the good

Become a better informed citizen.

Join over 30,000 readers each month and get real-local news and information direct to your inbox, Monday-Saturday.


Recent Comments

  • David Anderson on Letter: One Interesting Catch
  • Don Doman on Letter: One Interesting Catch
  • Don Doman on What's Next, Tahoma Beer? – Name Changes . . . for the good
  • Susan on What's Next, Tahoma Beer? – Name Changes . . . for the good
  • Carol Dick on Mass COVID vaccination sites planned for Pierce County

Contact Us

The Suburban Times
P.O. Box 39099
Lakewood, WA 98496

Ben Sclair, Publisher
253-312-1804

Stephen Neufeld, Marketing Executive
stephen@thesubtimes.com

Copyright © 2021 The Suburban Times • Log in • Privacy Policy

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.