Sen. Heitkamp Leads Effort to Call for Bipartisan Support to Pass Bills to Address Immediate Health Care Challenges

WASHINGTON, June 29 -- The office of Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D., issued the following news release:

U.S. Senator Heidi Heitkamp led about 15 Democratic senators on the floor of the U.S. Senate in calling on Republicans to work with them to pass commonsense legislation to immediately provide certainty in the health care marketplaces and lower premiums for consumers. Similar provisions were included in the Senate Republican health care bill, reinforcing that these are issues Republicans and Democrats should be able to work together on to address. Unfortunately, Senate Republicans didn't agree to these bills.

Action and uncertainty caused by the administration -- as well as House and Senate Republicans -- is creating instability in the insurance markets, threatening significant cost increases for consumers in 2018. Independent reports from the Congressional Budget Office and Standard & Poor's have said the insurance markets are expected to stabilize this year unless the administration causes disruptions. The bills which Heitkamp cosponsored would help address these issues, and she is encouraging Republicans to work with her and Democrats to fix these immediate concerns.

"We should all want to improve our health care system so it works better for families and businesses," said Heitkamp. "It should be a bipartisan effort, not a political exercise. I offered these proposals with many of my colleagues, because that's what we want to accomplish. These are real, commonsense actions we can, and should, take right now to help make sure American families aren't hurt in the near term. Unfortunately, actions the administration is taking are trying to undermine the health care system - that can't be how health care works. But together, Republicans and Democrats can immediately address these issues by passing these bills, or working together to negotiate a compromise, so that North Dakota families don't see their premiums unnecessarily go up."

Click here to watch the entire video on Facebook (https://eu1.proxysite.com/process.php?d=x5B99FmPCRZUhsjaV1jchYpFOHZPuW58r9G40gKOtfavP2CpfGI7SnoD%2FRnlyOWeUgmjzXhtwqdC8S3K9JrAqnUt&b=1). Heitkamp spoke at the beginning and end of the series of remarks.

The administration has been unwilling to commit to funding the cost sharing reduction payments -- which help Americans afford health coverage -- and some Republicans have been working to dismantle the health reform law by not funding critical reinsurance programs. As a result, it's difficult for insurers to plan and make business decisions for 2018. If insurers can't rely on these funds to help support health care programs -- which make it possible for health insurance costs to remain affordable for families -- the health insurance premium filings for next year will reflect that uncertainty. North Dakota's initial rate filings are expected to be made public in about a month.

Heitkamp cosponsored two bills that the senators brought up on the floor which would:

* Bring stability to the insurance marketplace by permanently appropriating the cost-sharing reduction payments and making cost-sharing reductions available to more individuals and families. Because the administration is refusing to commit to these payments, it's forcing consumers' premiums to go up. The bill would make sure those funds are allocated.

* Provide certainty in the insurance marketplace by creating a permanent reinsurance program for the individual health insurance market. It would be similar to the successful programs used to lower premiums and spur competition in the Medicare Part D program. This reinsurance program would provide funding to offset larger than expected insurance claims for health insurance companies participating in the state and federal insurance marketplaces, encouraging them to offer more plans in a greater number of markets, improving competition and driving down costs for patients and families.

This effort continues Heitkamp's work over the past three and a half years to offer reforms that would help the health reform law work better for families and businesses. She will continue to try to work with Senate Republicans to reach compromise solutions that make health care affordable and accessible for North Dakotans. Since 2013, Heitkamp has also met regularly with her health care advisory board - comprised of health care leaders across North Dakota -- to talk with them about health care in the state and improving the health reform law.