The Republican-dominated 115th Congress was poised to live up to its long-standing campaign promises in July 2017.
It used the Senate Budget Adjustment Rule to set up an intra-party vote on America’s health care laws and was nearing partial repeal of the Affordable Care Act. But Arizona Republican Rep. John McCain thwarted the plan by voicing his dissenting opinion that he would vote the bill down 51-49.
Democrats took control of the House in the 116th Congress, ending an opposition effort to undo a bill passed in 2010 in the Democratic-controlled 111th Congress, while Republicans failed to win a single vote. did.
“We realized that we could not change healthcare through settlement to make meaningful changes,” said R-District 4 Rep. “We have to do something bipartisan so we can get 60 votes in the Senate.”
The Congressional Budget Office said the so-called “skinny” repeal bill would reduce the deficit but increase the number of uninsured people.
“If the costs keep going up, some will say they don’t support the Republican Party,” said Westerman, who has represented southern and western Arkansas in the U.S. House of Representatives since 2015. Democrats won’t support it if it doesn’t cover the people, and nobody will support it if it doesn’t cover existing conditions.”
Westerman said the fair care bill, which he co-sponsored with Ohio Republican Rep. Anthony Gonzalez, addresses the priorities of lawmakers across the political spectrum. His office said it contained 75 bipartisan clauses.
Instead of saying, “Let’s get rid of the Affordable Care Act,” take what’s good, take other good health care policies, whether they’re Republican ideas or Democratic ideas, and One bill that brings it all together,” says Westerman. “The language goes back to cutting costs, covering more people, and covering existing conditions.”
The previous version never came out of the committee and was never discussed. Westerman said his and Gonzalez’s bill may never make it to the House, but elements of it could end up in a separate bill that reaches the president’s desk.
“I’ve spoken to people who know that I might run for president, that I might be elected president one day, that this bill is out there,” Westerman said. “President-elected people know about this bill and may put it on healthcare platforms.
“It is good that the bill has been drafted. There is something available for people. It’s my job to promote good health care policy, and who knows how that will play out in negotiations with Congress.”
A market-based exchange for Affordable Care Act to buy health insurance started with a Republican idea, Westerman said, adding that the FairCare Act would grow the market and cover more people. He explained that the range would be expanded.
“One way to do it is to put federal employees on exchanges,” he said. We will change the proportions of how it is applied to those with the most serious health concerns and create reinsurance pools to cover those with the most serious health concerns.”
The Affordable Care Act uses tax credits applied to monthly premiums for insurance purchased on exchanges. Subsidies are typically phased out when a registrant’s income reaches 400% of his federal poverty level, creating a so-called “subsidy cliff.”
The Settlement Bill being debated in the Senate, the Reducing Inflation Act, would extend through 2025 the provisions of the American Relief Plan Act that eliminated cliffs in 2021 and 2022. Premium share for subscribers with incomes above 400% of the poverty level is capped at 8.5% of annual income.
Westermann said his bill would level the cliff by extending subsidies to people whose incomes are up to 600% of the poverty level.
“If you graph it, it’s a much smoother curve with no cliffs or transitions,” he said. Create a cliff: The way premium assistance is currently being created is not fair to young people or old people.”
Westermann said his bill would allow workers to take money from their paychecks before taxes are deducted and use pre-tax dollars to buy health insurance.
“Instead of offering corporate health care plans, private employers are allowed to pay their employees pre-tax dollars, allowing employees to go out and buy their own plans on the market. “Healthcare is not tied to employment. It makes the transition from one job to another more seamless and less tied to employers.”
According to the Congressional Budget Office, the prescription drug provisions of the Reducing Inflation Act could save Medicare about $300 billion over the next decade. Allowing Medicare to negotiate prices for some of the most expensive drugs is one way to reduce costs.
“I think it’s a bad idea,” said Westermann. “What they’re trying to do is put a price cap on the end. What they’re trying to do is slow innovation in the drug market. I think there’s a better way to do that.” I think, if Medicare says this is the price of a drug, it will have ripple effects across healthcare.
Westerman’s bill targets the practices of pharmacy benefits managers. A prescription drug insurance plan uses her PBM to process and pay claims, contract pharmacies, and negotiate discounts and rebates with pharmaceutical companies. The Faircare Act eliminates his PBM charges, which can make it difficult for pharmacies to cover the costs. Paying to join a network of insurance plans is one of the most common fees.
In 2015, the Arkansas legislature passed a law allowing pharmacies to refuse to fill prescriptions if the reimbursement paid by PBM does not cover the pharmacy’s costs.
“They’re like drug companies, pharmacies, leeches sucking cash from patients, and they’re all government-mandated,” Westerman said of PBM. “We’re really doing a lot about drug benefit administrators with the Fair Care Act. It’s the kind of bad government we need to get out of healthcare.”
