Gov. Hickenlooper Testifies Before Senate HELP Committee Hearing
Thank you Chairman Alexander, Ranking Member Murray and members of the committee. I appreciate the opportunity to testify and share with you our bipartisan plan for stabilizing the individual health insurance market.
In 1932, Justice
In other words, states are where the rubber meets the road on the highway of the American experiment.
In
We have dealt with its complicated provisions, benefited from its good intentions, and created a culture of innovation.
But many people are angry, and have a right to be. We need to move toward a system that compensates quality, not quantity.
For the 400,000 Coloradans in the individual marketplace, many continue to struggle.
That is simply unacceptable.
Even worse, our
It's a big problem, but our bipartisan group of Governors, including
We can do a lot at the state level, especially with congressional leadership.
Our plan asks you to explicitly fund the cost sharing reductions at least through 2019. Funding the CSRs for 2018 only will put us right back where we are now in a matter of months. It will foster uncertainty surrounding these payments, threatening to drive up premiums and force insurers out of the market.
We also need your support as we work to stabilize the market by creating a stability fund, that will help us set up reinsurance or similar programs.
We hope you will fully fund and strengthen federal risk sharing programs that will help amplify our efforts.
We're also requesting tax incentives for insurance companies to enter counties with only one insurer on the exchange, while giving Americans who live in these counties the option to buy the same insurance that federal workers have.
Section 1332 of the ACA gives states the ability to innovate to lower costs while ensuring that certain basic guidelines are met. But existing regulations limit our ability to come up with creative solutions. That's why we're asking for a streamlined waiver submission and approval process, and additional flexibility in applying the budget neutrality provisions of this section.
We believe all of this can be done in a fiscally responsible way by offsetting costs.
Bringing down health insurance premiums will require us to address the underlying drivers of health care costs. That's why we ask the federal government to fully commit to paying for value over volume and empower consumers with price and quality information.
And we can't stabilize the market without funding health priorities that reduce health care costs like weight management, tobacco cessation, family planning and injury prevention, just to name a few.
Governors and states have proven we can innovate. We're like startup companies -- we learn from mistakes, fix, tweak, and constantly improve. Fine is never good enough. That's why we're the laboratories of democracy.
In
We have a lot to be proud of, but recent federal action -- and inaction -- is undermining our efforts. It's time for the federal government to work with us, not against us.
Without your help, It's like climbing one of
We need Immediate federal action and responsible reforms that preserve coverage gains and control costs.
I sincerely appreciate your efforts in calling this hearing and returning to regular order in the
I look forward to answering you questions.
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