EDITORIAL: Follow Minnesota’s lead with reinsurance to stabilize health care premiums
On Monday,
Four of the five insurers selling individual policies in
Credit is due Republican legislative leaders who championed the reinsurance policy that's helping hold down prices. Reinsurance cushions the small pool of individual policyholders from rate hikes by using state dollars to reimburse insurers for care costs incurred by some enrollees with very expensive medical needs. Last spring, lawmakers provided up to
Gov.
A bipartisan effort in
The last-ditch Graham-Cassidy bill to repeal the law unfortunately derailed the Alexander-Murray effort's momentum. Thankfully, the two senators haven't given up after that bill's demise. As
A national reinsurance program would require a considerable investment as well. In 2016, a transitional ACA reinsurance program provided
The entrepreneurs, farmers and others in the individual health insurance market don't benefit from this preferential tax treatment. A federal reinsurance program, though costly, would help address this unfairness. By keeping coverage costs stable, a reinsurance program could also buy time for
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