Today the Senate Republican Caucus
distributed the following press release regarding today’s Senate debate of a
bill requiring the state to conform with insurance provisions contained in the
federal Affordable Care Act:
Senate
Republican Caucus Fights to Keep Massachusetts Healthcare System Affordable
Caucus Offers
Several Amendments to ACA Bill to Protect and Fortify the State’s Healthcare
System
Boston- With the
Massachusetts State Senate set to debate a bill requiring the Commonwealth to move
forward in the process to conform with insurance provisions mandated by the
federal Affordable Care Act (ACA), the Senate Republican Caucus has filed
several key amendments to keep rising healthcare costs down, to study the cost
of new federal mandates and taxes, and prevent the federal act from penalizing
Massachusetts residents with costly new insurance measures.
“Our state government has worked
diligently to control costs, increase access to coverage, and create a model
for others to follow when it comes to healthcare,” said Senate Minority Leader
Bruce Tarr. “We shouldn’t now be
penalized and punished by a federal law that takes away critical components of
that model, and in doing so, causes undue costs for consumers and economic
penalties for employers.”
Among the amendments that Senator
Tarr, Assistant Minority Leader Robert Hedlund (R-Weymouth), Minority Whip
Richard Ross (R-Wrentham) and Ranking Senate Ways and Means Committee member
Michael Knapik (R-Westfield) are seeking to secure include measures to:
- Require reporting of the cost to comply with
ACA mandates by the Executive Office of Health and Human Services, the
Commonwealth Health Insurance Connector, and the Center for Health
Information Analysis, and the Health Policy Commission;
- Require reporting of the impacts associated
with the medical device tax imposed by the act on Massachusetts
manufacturers by the Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development,
and the Department of Revenue;
- Eliminate the mandate that all insurance
policies must have prescription drug coverage, which increases premiums
and limits choice;
- Increase of the membership of the Health
Insurance Connector to include a consumer organization, and three who
represent employers in various geographical locations and employee size;
- Increase the number of Association Health plan cooperatives
to allow small businesses to purchase health insurance as a group; and
- Strengthen Federal Waiver efforts to prevent
Massachusetts from losing tools to control insurance costs such as rating
factors and annual rate settings.
Rather
than the state summarily proceeding with the elimination of cost reducing
health insurance rating factors that provide both small and large businesses
with the financial flexibility to provide affordable healthcare to their
employees, Senate Republicans want the state to go beyond the January 2016 phase-in
extension provided by the federal government to seek an outright waiver of many
of the costly provisions.
“Ensuring
every Massachusetts citizen continues to have access to affordable health care
coverage is paramount to strengthening our Commonwealth and growing our
economy,” said Senator Hedlund. “We need
to make sure the progress we have made in creating a model for the rest of the
nation continues to evolve rather than take a backseat to federal regulations
that weaken our goal of access and affordability.”
“Massachusetts
has become the model for the entire nation on quality health care reform,” said
Senator Ross. “It is a shame that the federal government is now implementing
new regulations that will effectively detract from the great strides that the
Commonwealth has made in making affordable health care available. The federal
government should refrain from interfering with a state’s working model,
particularly one that has shown such success.”
“The
federal Affordable Care Act should strengthen our model for healthcare, not
weaken it. We need to take decisive
action to push back against federal measures that will undermine our state’s
chances for success in controlling costs and increasing access,” said Senator
Tarr.
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