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The Kentucky Republican, who has long advocated repealing the Affordable Care Act, told a business audience in his hometown that the law "can't possibly go on like it is." He predicted the overhaul "will be revisited by the next president, whoever that is." McConnell said the 2010 health care law, which passed without a single Republican vote when Democrats still controlled both houses of Congress, "is crashing" under the weight of rising premiums and the exit of big-name insurers that will limit consumer choice in many markets. "All of this was entirely predictable," McConnell said. Those problems will make the law ripe for changes when the next Congress convenes next year, he said. "My prediction is that 'Obamacare' will be revisited next year, no matter who wins the election, no matter who's in control of Congress," McConnell said. "Because things that can't work, won't work, and will need to be revisited by popular demand from people all across the country."
During a question-and-answer session with the audience, McConnell declined to offer specifics when asked what would be included in any legislation. The senator said the extent of changes will hinge on the November election. "It will be revisited, in my view, in a major way," he said. "And exactly how it's changed will depend on the election." Republican Donald Trump has promised to repeal and replace the health care law if he wins the presidency. If Democrat Hillary Clinton wins the White House, she's expected to mount a rescue effort. She has outlined a long list of proposed fixes, from rearranging benefits to introducing a government-sponsored "public option" as an alternative to private insurers. Another question is which party will control the health care debate in the Senate.
The GOP is struggling to maintain control of the Senate in a year when the map is tilted in Democrats' favor. Twenty-four Republican-held seats are on the ballot this year, compared with 10 for Democrats, McConnell noted. Republicans are embroiled in tough fights to keep GOP-held seats in places such as New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Wisconsin, Illinois, Florida and Indiana. Democrats need to pick up five seats to take back control of the Senate, or four if they also keep control of the White House, since the vice president casts tie-breaking votes in the Senate. "It's a close situation," McConnell said. "It has been all year."
Next year's health insurance signup season starts a week before the Nov. 8 election. Premiums are expected to rise sharply in many insurance marketplaces, which offer subsidized private coverage to people lacking access to job-based plans. The health care law's mandates and tax increases have stoked endless controversy and opposition from the GOP, yet the number of uninsured people has dropped by millions of people.
McConnell: Obamacare 'crashing;' next president must fix it
Plouffe said while "almost all" of Obamacare is working, he believes it's time to consider a "public option" -- a government-run health care plan. "So I think what will happen after this election, though, is obviously you'll have the space to say OK, what is working well? And I think almost all of it is. What needs to be strengthened? I think you'll see a lot of Republican governors now finally accept Medicaid funding." With so many insurance companies dropping out of the Obamacare exchanges, "was bailing on a public option a mistake?" host Chuck Todd asked Plouffe. "Well, I think the president's spoken recently about that, you know, that he -- I don't think you could have gotten a public option passed, by the way. That wasn't going to get passed. You know, we barely passed this thing. "So you know, I think -- but at the end of the day, the president spoke of that. And he thinks that's part of the solution going forward."
Writing in the Journal of the American Medical Association last month, President Obama discussed "next steps" for the Affordable Care Act. "[M]ore can and should be done to enhance competition in the Marketplaces," Obama wrote. "Some parts of the country have struggled with limited insurance market competition for many years, which is one reason that, in the original debate over health reform, Congress considered and I supported including a Medicare-like public plan. Public programs like Medicare often deliver care more cost-effectively by curtailing administrative overhead and securing better prices from providers. "The public plan did not make it into the final legislation. Now, based on experience with the ACA, I think Congress should revisit a public plan to compete alongside private insurers in areas of the country where competition is limited. Adding a public plan in such areas would strengthen the Marketplace approach, giving consumers more affordable options while also creating savings for the federal government."
As Obamacare architect Jonathan Gruber infamously said in 2014, "if you had a law which made explicit that healthy people pay in and sick people get money, it would not have passed. Lack of transparency is a huge political advantage. "And basically, call it the stupidity of the American voter or whatever, but basically that was really, really critical to get the thing to pass.”
David Plouffe: 'Public Option' Needed to Save Obamacare
Alexander - who noted that Republicans warned President Obama six years ago that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act would result in higher insurance premiums for millions of Americans - called on Congress to “take a good, hard look at Obamacare, which is bearing down on American families in a way that cannot be allowed to continue.” “In February of 2010, I spoke for Republicans at a White House summit on health care and warned President Obama that premiums for millions of Americans with individual insurance would rise under his proposal,” Alexander said Saturday as he delivered the GOP’s weekly address.
Those predictions have come true, he said, including in his home state of Tennessee. “Next year Tennesseans will be paying an intolerable increase—on average between 44 and 62 percent more for their Obamacare plans than they paid last year,” the senator noted. “And if you, the policyholder, don't pay all of it, then you, the taxpayer, will, because a large portion of Obamacare premiums are subsidized with tax dollars,” he pointed out. “But warnings are not much use now. Americans need action,” Alexander continued. “In order to avoid a near collapse of our nation’s health insurance market, we need a Republican Congress next year," he said.
Tennessee insurance commissioner Julie Mix McPeak told The Tennessean last week that she reluctantly approved a 62 percent premium increase for BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee (BCBST) , which will be the only insurance company in the state still selling policies on the Obamacare exchange statewide in 2017 after UnitedHealthCare announced it was pulling out due to financial losses. Besides the 62 percent rate hike for BCBST, the Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance also approved a 46.3 percent rate hike for Cigna and a 44.3 percent premium increase for Humana for 2017, the two other insurance companies that offer policies in some areas on the Tennessee Obamacare exchange. “I would characterize the exchange market in Tennessee as very near collapse ... and that all of our efforts are really focused on making sure we have as many writers in the areas as possible, knowing that might be one," McPeak said. "I’m doing everything I can to prevent a situation where that turns to zero.”
BCBST estimated its total losses could reach $500 million by the end of 2016 despite a 36.3 percent premium increase approved last year. “They were losing money on every dollar they collected,” McPeak said in June, when the 2017 double-digit rate hikes were requested. “I hate, hate approving rate increases, but we have to have companies that are solvent.” Tennesseans “should not have to pay the price for a terrible health care law and the refusal by Democrats in Washington to see what is plainly obvious—that Obamacare is failing,” Alexander stated in an August 23 press release. “How can anyone continue to defend this law while they watch it wreak havoc on family budgets – stealing money hardworking Tennesseans had set aside to buy a home or send their child to college but will now have to spend on their skyrocketing premiums?” he asked.
Sen. Alexander: GOP Congress Needed ‘To Avoid a Near Collapse’ of Health Insurance Market
