U.S. Senator Joe Donnelly announced his support for the bipartisan agreement made by Senate HELP Committee Chairman Senator Lamar Alexander (R-TN) and Ranking member, Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) to help stabilize health care markets. The Alexander-Murray agreement would fund cost-sharing reduction (CSR) payments, which help lower consumers’ deductibles and co-pays, for two years. It would also include funding to help Americans navigate signing up for health insurance, which had been cut by the Administration.
Donnelly, a cosponsor of the Alexander-Murray legislation, said, “I have long said that if we want to fix our health care system, we need to work together. This legislation, which would reduce costs for many Hoosiers, is the product of hard work from members on both sides of the aisle, and it’s an important step in providing much needed stability to the market. I’m proud to be part of the effort, and I will continue working with Republicans and Democrats to move this much-needed legislation forward.”
Over the past several months, Donnelly has participated in bipartisan negotiations and listening sessions with health care experts, led by Alexander and Murray. Donnelly has repeatedly urged the Administration to commit to providing stability to health insurance markets and working together on bipartisan solutions to reduce health care costs, expand access to care, and strengthen the health care system.
Last Wednesday, Donnelly sent a letter to Hoosier Seema Verma — Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) — to reiterate that the Administration should do no harm and work on constructive, bipartisan efforts. This followed up on Donnelly’s previous unanswered letter to Verma on July 31, in which he urged the Administration to make a public commitment to continue CSR payments.
Donnelly’s efforts came after repeated actions by the Administration to undermine the health care system, which have resulted in premiums rising by an average of 20 percent for Hoosiers on the individual health care marketplace. In particular, several insurance companies that offer coverage to Hoosiers, including two that left the market, cited uncertainty as it relates to the Administration’s refusal to commit to making CSR payments, as a key reason for increasing prices or leaving the market. CareSource, for example, told Donnelly several months ago in a letter, “If there was certainty that CSR payments would be made, we estimate that there would be a 2.2% rate increase, in aggregate, from our 2017 to 2018 rates.”
