{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://web.archive.org/web/20140221010412/http://vanhollen.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=361323", "Van Hollen on MSNBC: ACA Allows Insurance Companies to Renew Current Plans for Next Year", "2013-11-13", "2013", "2013-11", "Democrat", "House", "MD", "Chris Van Hollen", "V000128", "web.archive.org", null, null, "legacy", "Today Maryland Congressman Chris Van Hollen, Ranking Member of the House Budget Committee, appeared on MSNBC with Tamron Hall to talk about the Affordable Care Act. Below is a transcript of his interview, and the video is available\u00a0here:\nTAMRON HALL, MSNBC:\u00a0Joining me now live, Democratic Congressman Chris Van Hollen of Maryland.\u00a0 Sir, thank you for your time again.\u00a0\nREP. CHRIS VAN HOLLEN:\u00a0Good to be with you, Tamron.\nHALL:\u00a0Here we are \u2013 we may, in about an hour from now, hear these numbers that have been speculated and reported on. We\u2019ll hear the facts. We do know Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary Sebelius, has already said they\u2019re going to be low. What does that do to the discussion, and moving forward here, with this deadline looming of November 30th, and today the testimony being that the vast majority of people will be able to get on the website, but we cannot guarantee 100 percent?\nVAN HOLLEN:\u00a0Well, Tamron, I think everybody agrees that the website situation is absolutely unacceptable. But even if it was running perfectly, we would expect the enrollment numbers, at this point in time, in the Affordable Care Act through the exchange to be very low. We know that based on the experience they had in Massachusetts, where on a state level they implemented a very similar plan. I don\u2019t think it should surprise anybody that, even if the website were up and running perfectly, most people take a little bit of time to shop around and they don\u2019t make their final selection until the deadline gets nearer.\nSo, yes, we\u2019ve got to get this website up and running, because right now people aren\u2019t able to figure out what their alternatives could be \u2013 but, even if it were running perfectly, you would not see a big take-up at this point in time.\nI should say, I am hearing signs that the enrollment in Medicaid is going to be, I think, fairly robust. And that means many, many Americans are going to have access to that health care \u2013 except of course those in states that have refused to expand [Medicaid], and they\u2019re going to leave about 5 million people behind.\nHALL:\u00a0Right, absolutely.\u00a0 Let me ask you, though, about some of your colleagues. Some Democrats, who, as we\u2019ve played, now, and including Dianne Feinstein, she is co-sponsoring a bill with Senator Mary Landrieu that would require insurance companies to continue offering the existing health care plans that people have. Basically, the promise that the President made, turning it into a reality here.\u00a0 It\u2019s seen as an abandoning of ship, if you will, by some Democrats who could be in political peril.\nVAN HOLLEN:\u00a0Well, two things. One, we want to look for ways right away to address the concerns that have been raised. But you want to make sure your remedy is not worse than the problem. And the proposals that have been put on the table, some in the Senate and some in the House, would increase premiums significantly as you go into next year.\u00a0 So, trying to find a way to fix a problem right now by creating an even bigger problem down the road is not the way to go.\nThe other thing I would point out, Tamron, I think there has been a lot of confusion about this. Which is there\u2019s nothing in the Affordable Care Act itself that prevents any of these insurance companies from extending any of their insurance policies for another year, so long as they do it before the end of this year. And so, these notices that are going out from insurance companies are decisions that are being made by the insurance companies.\u00a0 And I think that is the source of much confusion, because those decisions are not being forced by the Affordable Care Act.\u00a0 There are some states that have accelerated the movement in that direction, but the Affordable Care Act does not prohibit those insurance companies from renewing for a year, so long as they do it by the end of this year.\nHALL:\u00a0Right. So then what is the proper fix here that would, if people want to keep their insurance plan, what is the proper fix to make certain that that happens, if that is the goal?\nVAN HOLLEN:\u00a0Well I think one thing we should do immediately is begin to go to the insurance commissioners in the various states and ask them to look into why these insurance companies are not using the authority they have to extend these policies for one more year, so long as they do it before the end of this year? Because a lot of these insurance companies have sent out letters saying that the Affordable Care Act was making them terminate these policies, but that\u2019s just not the case. In some cases, you have states that have passed state laws that would prevent that, but the Affordable Care Act does not prevent that, so long as the insurance companies do it this year and it\u2019s for one more year.\nHALL:\u00a0All right, Congressman Chris Van Hollen, thank you so much for your time, we greatly appreciate it. I know you\u2019ve got a lot going on there.\nVAN HOLLEN:\u00a0Thank You.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://web.archive.org/web/20140221010412/http://vanhollen.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=361323"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 2.086802152916789, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}