AHIP Speaks Out Against “Skinny Repeal”

AHIP, the nation’s largest association of payers, sent a letter to both Senate party leaders urging them not to pass a “skinny” version of ACA repeal.

In the letter, Marilyn B Tavenner, President and CEO of AHIP, stressed that efforts to destabilize the insurance marketplaces will significantly increase the cost of premiums in 2018.

“The mid-August deadline for finalizing 2018 premiums is rapidly approaching, yet significant uncertainties remain,” she wrote. “This continued uncertainty—combined with targeted proposals that would eliminate key elements of current law without new stabilizing solutions—will not solve the problems in the individual market, and in fact will result in higher premiums, fewer choices for consumers, and fewer people covered next year.”

The Senate is on the verge of passing what is being referred to as a “skinny repeal,” meaning it is a version of the House’s American Health Care Act (AHCA) that has been stripped of many of its provisions. The skinny repeal bill would only include a repeal of the ACA’s individual coverage mandate, a partial repeal of the employer mandate, funding cuts for Planned Parenthood, and health center money for opioid misuse treatment. The AHIP specifically rejected any legislation that included many of these elements.

“We would oppose an approach that eliminates the individual coverage requirement, does not offer alternative continue coverage solutions, and does not include measures to immediately stabilize the individual market,” Ms Tavenner wrote.  

AHIP recommended a number of essential actions that the Senate should take in lieu of an outright repeal of the ACA. They suggested that the Senate immediately fund the ACA’s cost-sharing reductions, or else premiums will likely increase about 20%. The also recommended a mechanism to stabilize exchanges for the 2018-2019 coverage year, in order to push premiums down.

“Policies that do not stabilize the market and simply drop incentives for people to buy coverage will repeat what we have seen in the past: premiums will rise rapidly, few or no affordable coverage options will be available, and more people will be uninsured,” Ms Tavenner concluded.

—David Costill.