EDITORIAL: An Obamacare fix

Oct. 28--The Congressional Budget Office had some good news for the bipartisan group of senators who crafted a bill designed to shore up the Obamacare insurance markets.

The CBO reported Wednesday that the bill sponsored by U.S. Sens. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and Patty Murray (D-Wash.) would reduce the nation's deficit by nearly $4 billion by 2027 -- and not substantially impact the number of people who would get coverage.

Not funding the subsidies for low income recipients buying the coverage -- President Trump cut them off by executive order a week ago -- would, according to CBO, increase the federal deficit by $194 billion through 2026.

Trump keeps insisting the subsidies are "bailouts" for the insurance companies, when they actually fund co-payments and deductibles for patients. Without them, premiums rise sharply -- varying from state to state but most in the 25 percent to 34 percent range. That means the federal government will be spending more in financial assistance for low-income people.

"This nonpartisan analysis shows that our bill provides savings and ensures that funding two years of cost-sharing payments will benefit taxpayers and low-income Americans, not insurance companies," Alexander and Murray, the chairman and ranking member of the Senate Health Committee, respectively, said in a joint statement.

The bill has 12 Republican and 12 Democratic co-sponsors and actually has a decent chance of passing the Senate.

So what does Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) have to say about all of this good news? Well, he's insisting that he won't bring it to a floor vote unless President Trump gives his approval. Because, well, that worked so well before? Or because Trump has proven such a good pal to McConnell in recent days?

Last we looked, the Congress is a co-equal branch of government. Isn't it time it began to fulfill that role?

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