You've been buffaloed by your party. Obviously if you are family of 5 trying to insure everyone, your costs are going to be higher, even covering your adult kids til age 26, you're going to feel it in your paychecks.
If you're looking at an older couple like my parents, they pay up to 800 dollars a month in private insurance, and that never changed with the implementation of Obamacare,
but you know how cool they are, they question every bill they get covered, because the system will take the insurance company for a ride.
I worked in a homeless shelter with a couple whose bumper sticker said, Please Save Us from Obamacare. I know the sentiment too, even at places like this, but fact checking on the program is needed, and you needed to be telling people this.
I'm disappointed, yeah, it's going to end, but my daughter did get one year in. We've got too many red suits, and it's not the Santa kind.
Sincerely,
Joni K. Ernst
United States Senator
If you're looking at an older couple like my parents, they pay up to 800 dollars a month in private insurance, and that never changed with the implementation of Obamacare,
but you know how cool they are, they question every bill they get covered, because the system will take the insurance company for a ride.
I worked in a homeless shelter with a couple whose bumper sticker said, Please Save Us from Obamacare. I know the sentiment too, even at places like this, but fact checking on the program is needed, and you needed to be telling people this.
I'm disappointed, yeah, it's going to end, but my daughter did get one year in. We've got too many red suits, and it's not the Santa kind.
ar Ms. Grutz,
Thank you for taking the time to contact me about the Senate's work on health care reform. It's important for me to receive direct input from folks in Iowa on policy matters such as this, especially when they affect people on such a personal level.
Since joining the U.S. Senate, I have had the opportunity to complete three 99 county tours. Throughout my travels across the state, I have participated in roundtables with our local small businesses, toured manufacturing and agricultural operating sites, visited hospitals, schools, and more. In these meetings, too many of our neighbors from all parts of the state have taken the time to share with me how they are personally struggling under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), with their premiums and other out-of-pocket costs increasing year-to-year and their choice of health insurance options dwindling.
Premiums have increased in Iowa up to 110% since the ACA went into effect. Further, this past April, Wellmark BlueCross/BlueShield and Aetna pulled out of Iowa's individual health care market, leaving Medica as the only remaining provider for the approximately 72,000 Iowans seeking health care coverage through the individual market. Given the unsustainability of the state's individual market, Governor Kim Reynolds and Insurance Commissioner Doug Ommen submitted a 1332 waiver application to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to reform the individual market and implement a stopgap plan to bring stability and affordability for 2018. For the past few months, Iowa has been working with CMS to gain approval of their 1332 waiver application but ultimately had to withdraw its application.
It's clear Iowa can no longer continue with the status-quo of the ACA. While I am pleased Medica will remain, Iowans relying on the individual market for their health insurance will experience another massive rate increase of up to 57% next year. We must act and continue to work together in a public dialogue and secure affordable, patient-centered solutions to relieve Iowans and their families from sky-rocketing insurance costs and zero choice.
As Congress continues its work to secure these solutions, it's important for there to be a transition period for folks to have time to plan. That is why I joined Senators Lamar Alexander (R-TN) and Patty Murray (D-WA) in co-sponsoring their short-term, bipartisan legislation to improve flexibility, expand choice, and help stabilize health insurance markets for 2018 and 2019. This proposal included provisions to give states flexibility to innovate and design their individual markets to bring more affordability to consumers, expand the availability of different insurance options by lifting current restrictions for cheaper plans, require the federal government to issue regulations for interstate compacts so folks could purchase insurance across state lines, and appropriate funds for the cost sharing reduction (CSR) payments for the next two years.
To learn more about this bipartisan proposal, please click on this link to Senator Alexander's website.
Throughout the Senate's consideration of legislative ideas regarding health care, I have emphasized how it's essential for me to hear directly from folks, such as yourself, with their feedback and personal stories in accessing health care. It's more clear than ever that the ACA is failing Iowans, and I remain committed to sending legislation to the president's desk for his signature that repeals and replaces this failed law. Rather than Washington-centric mandates, our health care system should be grounded in affordability, competition, flexibility, and empowering folks to choose the best health coverage for their individual needs.
Thank you again for contacting me about this important issue. Feel free to share with me any further information, as I always enjoy hearing from Iowans.
Since joining the U.S. Senate, I have had the opportunity to complete three 99 county tours. Throughout my travels across the state, I have participated in roundtables with our local small businesses, toured manufacturing and agricultural operating sites, visited hospitals, schools, and more. In these meetings, too many of our neighbors from all parts of the state have taken the time to share with me how they are personally struggling under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), with their premiums and other out-of-pocket costs increasing year-to-year and their choice of health insurance options dwindling.
Premiums have increased in Iowa up to 110% since the ACA went into effect. Further, this past April, Wellmark BlueCross/BlueShield and Aetna pulled out of Iowa's individual health care market, leaving Medica as the only remaining provider for the approximately 72,000 Iowans seeking health care coverage through the individual market. Given the unsustainability of the state's individual market, Governor Kim Reynolds and Insurance Commissioner Doug Ommen submitted a 1332 waiver application to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to reform the individual market and implement a stopgap plan to bring stability and affordability for 2018. For the past few months, Iowa has been working with CMS to gain approval of their 1332 waiver application but ultimately had to withdraw its application.
It's clear Iowa can no longer continue with the status-quo of the ACA. While I am pleased Medica will remain, Iowans relying on the individual market for their health insurance will experience another massive rate increase of up to 57% next year. We must act and continue to work together in a public dialogue and secure affordable, patient-centered solutions to relieve Iowans and their families from sky-rocketing insurance costs and zero choice.
As Congress continues its work to secure these solutions, it's important for there to be a transition period for folks to have time to plan. That is why I joined Senators Lamar Alexander (R-TN) and Patty Murray (D-WA) in co-sponsoring their short-term, bipartisan legislation to improve flexibility, expand choice, and help stabilize health insurance markets for 2018 and 2019. This proposal included provisions to give states flexibility to innovate and design their individual markets to bring more affordability to consumers, expand the availability of different insurance options by lifting current restrictions for cheaper plans, require the federal government to issue regulations for interstate compacts so folks could purchase insurance across state lines, and appropriate funds for the cost sharing reduction (CSR) payments for the next two years.
To learn more about this bipartisan proposal, please click on this link to Senator Alexander's website.
Throughout the Senate's consideration of legislative ideas regarding health care, I have emphasized how it's essential for me to hear directly from folks, such as yourself, with their feedback and personal stories in accessing health care. It's more clear than ever that the ACA is failing Iowans, and I remain committed to sending legislation to the president's desk for his signature that repeals and replaces this failed law. Rather than Washington-centric mandates, our health care system should be grounded in affordability, competition, flexibility, and empowering folks to choose the best health coverage for their individual needs.
Thank you again for contacting me about this important issue. Feel free to share with me any further information, as I always enjoy hearing from Iowans.
Joni K. Ernst
United States Senator
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