WASHINGTON, March 14 -- Sens. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, Mike Lee, R-Utah, and Reps. Mark Meadows, R-North Carolina, and Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, issued the following op-ed on Obamacare repeal and replacement, which was published on FoxNews:

Today we are closer than ever to sending ObamaCare to the ash heap of history and opening the door for much-needed market-based solutions to health insurance.

With the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, Republicans banded together to eliminate the unpopular ObamaCare individual mandate. Now the Trump administration is determined to find a better way to address our nation's health-care needs.

But despite these positive developments, both Democrats and Republicans in Washington are considering policies that would not only retain ObamaCare for the indefinite future, but also expand this health-care disaster beyond even President Obama's ambitions.

These proposals would snatch defeat from the jaws of victory by shoveling billions of additional dollars in deficit spending into the pockets of insurance companies, which have been losing money on ObamaCare's exchanges because of the law's misguided one-size-fits-all approach.

The real solution is obvious: we need to do away with this massive, expensive and unfair government program, instead of throwing money at a handful of corporations to tolerate it. But few have accused Washington of ever recognizing the obvious.

Several competing proposals appear to be on the table. One would direct the Obama-created bailout known as cost-sharing-reduction (CSR) payments to go to ObamaCare insurance companies. Another would create an entirely new reinsurance program to funnel billions of taxpayer dollars directly to insurers in order to convince them to stick with ObamaCare.

Republicans should reject both approaches.

Before now, Republicans correctly saw CSR payments for what they were - flagrant bailouts of favored ObamaCare insurance companies - and refused to be complicit in that bailout.

Republicans also recognized that CSR payments lacked sufficient pro-life protections, allowing taxpayer funding for abortions. These problems with CSR payments still remain - but the attitude among some Republicans has strangely and suddenly changed.

The reinsurance program proposals under consideration today would create a new backdoor bailout similar to one originally found in ObamaCare.

ObamaCare created a three-year reinsurance program, tantamount to a bailout, which thankfully ended in 2016. The Obama administration mismanaged this bailout so badly that it failed to collect enough insurance slush money, and then sought to fudge its mistakes by taking money from the Treasury and redirecting it into the pockets of insurance companies.

Back in 2016, top GOP committee chairmen from both the House and Senate called this scheme "the great Obamacare heist." And now some would seek to reproduce it.

This Frankenstein combination of a new Republican-created insurance bailout plus funding ObamaCare's existing pro-abortion CSR bailout is exactly what we counseled against in March last year. If we ignore the years of promises we made to the people on ObamaCare, the voters would, quite rightly, distrust Republicans for years to come.

Fortunately, there's another way. We can treat health insurance as the product it is and allow the principles of choice and competition to provide cheap, effective options, as we do for almost every other purchase in our society. Consumer freedom is the most effective way to lower premiums and make health insurance more affordable.

We should expand health savings accounts so Americans get a tax-free way to pay for health expenses, allow people to purchase plans that work for them, and make these plans portable between jobs. These three simple things will go a long way toward promoting market competition that benefits consumers and reduces the cost of health care for everyday Americans.

Republicans stand at a moment of great opportunity, one we've been promising to seize for over eight years. We can listen to the American people - who delivered historic Republican majorities that promised to move our nation past broken government intrusions into the health insurance market - or we can double down on this failed system by bailing out ObamaCare. We know which one we choose.

HONG KONG--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- AM Best has maintained its stable outlook on South Korea’s non-life insurance segment, supported by enhanced regulatory frameworks and solid investment performance.

According to the Best’s Market Segment Report, “Market Segment Outlook: South Korea Non-Life Insurance,” the country’s regulatory environment supports the stable outlook as regulatory changes are strengthening capital quality, solvency resilience and consistency in IFRS 17 reporting. The introduction of the core capital K-ICS ratio, which is effective January 2027, is expected to induce insurers to focus on improving fundamental capital with higher loss absorption features and prevent overreliance on supplementary capital securities.

South Korea’s non-life industry experienced a decline in its underwriting results in 2025, reflecting higher loss ratios in long-term and auto lines. Auto insurance profitability also deteriorated due to the cumulative effect of premium rate cuts from prior years and ongoing claims-cost inflation. Although a recent premium increase should provide support, the benefit will be recognised gradually through the earned premium base rather than immediately. The long-term insurance line of business is still experiencing claims pressure following the end of the medical strike in 2024, while persistent competition also has weighed on profitability.

“Because of the intense competition, some market leaders with stronger balance sheet capacity and solvency positions are looking beyond the domestic market for new growth opportunities. These efforts could support earnings diversification and long-term growth, although they necessarily entail a level of execution risk and short-term capital volatility,” said Seokjae Lee, senior financial analyst, AM Best.

Chanyoung Lee, director, analytics, AM Best, added: “Although underwriting performance in South Korea’s non-life insurance segment weakened in 2025, investment income improved materially, supported by higher interest income, and in some cases, gains from asset disposals and valuation gains. AM Best expects investment performance to remain a stable source of profits over the next 12 months, partly mitigating the pressured underwriting profits.”

To access the full copy of this market segment report, please visit http://www3.ambest.com/bestweek/purchase.asp?record_code=366691.

AM Best is a global credit rating agency, news publisher and data analytics provider specializing in the insurance industry. Headquartered in the United States, the company does business in over 100 countries with regional offices in London, Amsterdam, Dubai, Hong Kong, Singapore and Mexico City. For more information, visit www.ambest.com.

Copyright © 2026 by A.M. Best Rating Services, Inc. and/or its affiliates. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260721545914/en/

Seokjae Lee
Senior Financial Analyst
+852 2827 3407
[email protected]

Chanyoung Lee
Director, Analytics
+852 2827 3404
[email protected]

Christopher Sharkey
Associate Director, Public Relations
+1 908 882 2310
[email protected]

Cynthia Ang
Senior Industry Research Analyst
+65 6303 5026
[email protected]

Source: A.M. Best Rating Services, Inc.