The Wall Street Journal: Senators reach deal to fund insurers, give states flexibility

Reuters

Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) speaks with reporters ahead of the party luncheons on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., October 3, 2017.

Two senators on Tuesday finalized the basic contours of a bipartisan deal designed to shore up the nation’s health-insurance markets while giving states more say in how they implement rules set out by the Affordable Care Act.

The bill would, among other things, preserve for two years the billions of dollars in payments made to insurers to help offset consumers’ out-of-pocket costs, lawmakers and aides said. President Donald Trump last week said his administration would be ending the payments, a move Democrats and health analysts have feared would lead to rising premiums and scant insurer participation on the individual markets.

The bill forged by Sens. Lamar Alexander (R., Tenn) and Patty Murray (D., Wash.) caps almost three months of talks to forge an agreement that aims to appeal to both parties.

“Sen. Murray and I have an agreement,” Alexander told reporters, outlining the broad contours of the deal. “Democrats feel like there are protections there,” he said, and “at the same time we give significant flexibility to states.”

An expanded version of this story is available at WSJ.com

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