Rep. Shea-Porter Introduces Medicare You Can Opt Into Act of 2017

WASHINGTON, April 6 -- Rep. Carol Shea-Porter, D-N.H., issued the following news release:

Congresswoman Carol Shea-Porter (NH-01) today introduced the Medicare You Can Opt Into Act of 2017, legislation that would allow Americans to buy Medicare coverage by creating a public option to compete alongside private insurers.

"Thanks to the Affordable Care Act, our national uninsured rate is the lowest on record - now it's time to take the next step toward universal health care," said Shea-Porter. "I'm introducing the Medicare You Can Opt Into Act of 2017 because everyone in America deserves good health coverage at an affordable price, but insurance companies are still charging too much for too little. When we require private insurers to compete with Medicare on cost and quality, it's New Hampshire consumers who will win."

The Medicare You Can Opt Into Act would open up the Medicare program to any American who wanted to buy in, creating a public option to increase competition, choice, efficiency, transparency, and affordability in the insurance market. In addition to creating a Medicare public option, Shea-Porter's bill would ensure that employers whose employees opt in to Medicare will not be penalized under the Affordable Care Act's employer shared responsibility provisions.

A longtime advocate for a Medicare public option, Shea-Porter supported the inclusion of a public option during the development of the Affordable Care Act, and cosponsored the Medicare You Can Buy Into Act in each of her previous three terms. In February, she cosponsored H.R.1307, a bill to establish a (non-Medicare) public option to compete alongside private insurers in the Affordable Care Act's Marketplaces.

While Congresswoman Shea-Porter strongly supports health care for all, she has concerns about the approach taken by another proposed bill, H.R.676. Although it would expand Medicare access to everyone, it would also essentially eliminate private health care providers [see Section 103]. That is why she has introduced the Medicare You Can Opt Into Act, which allows visits to both public and private health providers.