{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["http://donyoung.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=398778", "Delegation Introduces Bill Returning Healthcare Options to Alaskans", "2016-09-14", "2016", "2016-09", "Republican", "House", "AK", "Don Young", "Y000033", "donyoung.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON, DC \u2013 Today, U.S. Senators Dan Sullivan and Lisa Murkowski, and Congressman Don Young introduced the Ensuring Health Care Opportunities Act of 2016 which will help Alaskans struggling with the high cost of health insurance, and strive to attract more insurance companies to Alaska.\r\nPresident Obama, and many of those who voted for the Affordable Care Act, promised that those who liked their healthcare coverage could keep it under Obamacare, and that the act would lower costs and increase competition. The President said that every plan would offer an \u201caffordable, basic package.\u201d Six years later, hundreds of thousands of Americans, particularly those in rural states like Alaska, have seen premiums and deductibles skyrocket, and choices decrease with an exodus of insurance companies. A recent Gallup poll reveals that 29% of Americans say they have been directly hurt by Obamacare, and 51% of Americans disapprove of the law.\r\nWhen the Affordable Care Act became law, Alaskans had their choice of five insurers offering individual coverage on the federal exchange. Today, Alaska is one of as many as eight states down to one insurance company offering such policies. Further, one-in-four counties across the county are down to one insurance company offering individual plans.\r\nUntil full repeal is realized, Alaskans are desperate for solutions. The Ensuring Health Care Opportunities Act would allow Alaskans, along with residents of states and localities with only one insurance company offering plans on the exchange, the option to buy health insurance that doesn\u2019t include certain Obamacare mandates that might not apply to them, like mental health services, addiction treatment and maternity care \u2013 services which every health care policy today is required to cover.\r\n\u201cThe cost of health care coverage is crippling Alaska\u2019s middle class,\u201d Senator Sullivan said. \u201cThe stories I hear and the letters I receive from my constituents being forced to buy insurance they can\u2019t afford, and insurance they can\u2019t use because of high deductibles, are heartbreaking. The President and the law\u2019s supporters are M.I.A. as announcement after announcement comes out detailing the abject failure of Obamacare, taking many Americans\u2019 livelihoods with it. Something has to be done. Until we can repeal Obamacare, this bill will provide Alaskans what they have been asking for \u2013 a real choice in policies.\u201d\r\n\u201cWe have seen time and time again that the Affordable Care Act does not work for a low-population, high-risk state such as Alaska. This essential bill would once again give Alaskans a choice in their healthcare coverage, a choice that the Affordable Care Act had taken away,\u201d said Senator Murkowski. \u201cI am proud to join with Senator Sullivan and Congressman Young to bring relief and flexibility to Alaskans suffering from the failing ACA\u2019s one-size-fits-all policies.\u201d\r\n\u201cLong before the disastrous rollout of Obamacare, many predicted that this one-size-fits-all healthcare law simply wouldn\u2019t work \u2013 especially in places like Alaska,\u201d said Congressman Don Young. \u201cWith skyrocketing premiums and the loss of all but one healthcare provider, it\u2019s clear that those predictions have come true. Alaskans need and demand relief from this overbearing government mandate, especially as our system faces near collapse. This bill takes serious efforts to confront the many healthcare challenges facing Alaskans by removing some of the most unreasonable requirements of this law, while also giving Alaskans the choice and flexibility they need and deserve.\u201d\r\n\u00a0\r\nBackground on the Ensuring Health Care Opportunities Act:\r\n\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 This bill would allow states that have at least one county (or equivalent municipality) with only one insurer on the health exchange market to be exempted from certain coverage mandates in the Affordable Care Act.\r\n\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 States are not required to file this exemption, and the authority is left up to the state insurance commissioner or equivalent official.\u00a0\r\n\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Individuals will not be required to purchase insurance excluding these coverage mandates.\r\n\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 States will have 90 days to file this exemption after the law is enacted, or 90 days once a state discovers it will have at least one county with only one insurer.\r\n\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The waiver is good for 5 years and can be recertified.\u00a0\r\n\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 No part of this law prevents health insurers from offering a health insurance plan with these mandates. The law simply allows for additional plans to be filed that offer more choice for the consumer as a one-size-fits-all approach has clearly not worked.\u00a0\r\n\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The point of this bill is to give consumers more choice in their health insurance options while encouraging insurers to reenter states to offer more plans to meet consumer needs and demands.\r\n\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 This law will not impact the preexisting condition clause of the Affordable Care Act or the ability for parents to keep children on their insurance plans until the age of 26. \u00a0\r\nFacts about the Affordable Care Act:\r\n\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 A new study by the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation suggests there could be just one option for coverage in 31% of counties in 2017, and there might be only two in another 31%. That would give exchange customers in large swaths of the U.S. far less choice than they had this year, when 7% of counties had one insurer and 29% had two.\r\n\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 974 counties have only one insurer and make up part of 23 states.\r\n\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 According to the American Action Forum, premium increases associated with coverage of these mandates have ranged from 0.13 percent in Rhode Island to 33 percent in Maine, with most states expecting single-digit increases.\r\nMedia reports on the ACA\u2019s impact on Alaskans:\r\n\u201cPrior to implementation of the ACA, a consumer could choose which services and coverage they were willing to pay for and at what price point. Now, the federal government chooses for them, and they are required to pay up, or pay a penalty.\u201d \u2013 Susan Bell, former commissioner of the Alaska Department of Commerce, Community and Economic Development, writing in the Juneau Empire, September 10, 2014.\r\n\u201c\u2018You never want to be without competition \u2013 that's not good for consumers,\u2019 [Alaska Division of Insurance Director Lori] Wing-Heier said. \u2018But in our case in particular it's troubling because [companies are] leaving because they're losing money. That makes it harder to attract new insurers to the market,\u2019 Wing-Heier said.\u201d \u2013 Alaska Dispatch News, July 7, 2016.\r\n\u201cA recent cost-of-living index highlighted what many Alaskans already know: Living up north is pricey, from groceries to housing to utilities. But only in one category -- health care -- did four of the state's cities top the nation. Juneau placed first, then Fairbanks and Kodiak, with Anchorage named fourth for most costly health care, followed by Everett, Wash., and Boston, according to a report released last week by the Council for Community and Economic Research. The organization of researches measured some 300 cities based on the average 2013 prices for visits with optometrists, dentists and physicians.\u201d \u2013 Alaska Dispatch News, March 27, 2016.\r\n\u201cIn health insurance prices, as in the weather, Alaska and the Sun Belt are extremes. This year Alaska is the most expensive health insurance market for people who do not get coverage through their employers, while Phoenix, Albuquerque, N.M., and Tucson, Ariz., are among the very cheapest.\u201d \u2013 NPR, January 15, 2015.\r\n\u201cAlaska Division of Insurance Director Lori Wing-Heier responded that the market is at a point where it may become so costly that Alaskans may flee the marketplace, creating an even smaller pool, and larger rate increase. The individual market could \u2018go into a death spiral,\u2019 she told legislators.\u201d \u2013 Alaska Dispatch News, May 17, 2016.\r\n\u201cAlaskans on the individual market have already seen\u00a0huge increases in their health insurance rates\u00a0over the past two years. Premera's rate increases averaged 37.2 percent in 2015 and 38.7 percent in 2016, while Moda's increases were 27.4 percent and 39 percent.\u201d \u2013 Alaska Dispatch News,\u00a0January 28, 2016.\r\n\u201cIt might not be a surprise to learn that\u00a0Alaskans are much more likely to be uninsured\u00a0than most other Americans. They are also more likely to live in remote areas and more likely to be people of color than those in the continental United States. They\u2019re precisely the sort of population that the Affordable Care Act was designed to serve by expanding coverage, expanding access to health care, and making health care cheaper. But instead of proving the usefulness of health reform, the new health infrastructure in the state is quietly failing.\u201d \u201cHealth Care Falters on the Last Frontier.\u201d \u2013 Atlantic Monthly, July 1, 2016.\r\nEditorials from newspapers across the country:\r\nPITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW: \u201cJust around the time that Barack Obama packs his bags and leaves the White House, the house of cards that is ObamaCare could come tumbling down.\u201d (Editorial, \u201cObamacare's Future: Condition Critical,\u201d Pittsburgh Tribune Review, 8/15/16)\r\nNEW HAMPSHIRE UNION LEADER: \u201cThe entire Obamacare scheme was set up on faulty premises. You can\u2019t force people to buy health insurance they don\u2019t want, subsidize mediocre insurance plans people can\u2019t afford, and still claim to hold down rising medical expenses.\u201d (Editorial, \u201cAnother ACA Failure Bad Idea Keeps Getting Worse,\u201d Union-Leader, 9/6/16)\r\nDETROIT NEWS: \u201cThe Affordable Care Act \u2014 commonly called Obamacare \u2014 isn\u2019t working as it was supposed to. Insurance premiums are set to skyrocket in 2017, following increases the past several years. \u2026 President Barack Obama\u2019s signature health care law was built on a dream. But market realities still exist, and taxpayers and patients throughout the country will continue to pay the price for the president and Congress ignoring those realities.\u201d (Editorial, \u201cObamacare Begs For Congressional Review,\u201d The Detroit News, 8/18/16)\r\n\u00a0\r\n###", 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": ["http://donyoung.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=398778"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.4202860184013844, "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"}