OPINION: Calling all grown-ups! Bi-partisan group seeks to get health care unstuck
And they're looking for colleagues in both parties who want to be grown-ups, too.
After years of impotent congressional dithering, 43 House lawmakers -- 21
Collateral damage in Trump's reign of chaos
Can
The group, led by Republican Rep.
Their prescription for what ails Obamacare is unapologetically pragmatic:
* Fund the cost-sharing subsidies that insurance companies participating in the state insurance exchanges established under Obamacare say are critical to keeping coverage affordable for individual policy holders.
* Amend the Obamacare mandate that requires companies with more than 50 employees to provide coverage for their workers so that only companies with more than 500 workers are affected.
* Make it easier for states who think they've found better ways to honor the spirit of the Affordable Care Act to get waivers from coverage rules that limit their flexibility.
* Scrap a 2.3% tax on devices that manufacturers sell directly to hospitals and other health care providers.
The caucus is a group of centrists that emerged and has been exploring the parties' intersecting health care interests informally for several months. Their discussions intensified late last week after the
The Problem Solvers' prescription is founded on the assumption, widely shared in both parties, that the market for the individual insurance policies will soon collapse without congressional action to guarantee cost-sharing subsidies. The Affordable Care Act is predicated on the payment of those subsidies, but lawmakers have refused to fund them since 2010, when
President
But more practical
Rep.
"The path forward to fixing the health care mess is seeking bipartisan, commonsense
common ground," he said in a news release issued jointly by Reed and Gottheimer. "At the top of our list is stabilizing insurance markets and ensuring lower premiums for patients."
In a quick poll I conducted Monday by telephone and e-mail, only one of the nine lawmakers who represent the
Spokespeople for Rep.
Three others --
Dingell says she's told colleague Upton and caucus chairs Reed and Gottheimer she's ready to sign on to their effort, but has been told she won't be admitted until another Republican signs up under a "Noah's Ark rule" that permits lawmakers to join only in bi-partisan pairs.
Gottheimer's spokesperson
How about it,
Is there another grown-up in the House?
Contact
CORRECTION: A previous version of this post incorrectly stated that Rep.
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