Blue Cross Blue Shield sent a message to its members Monday about changes it would like to see to the healthcare law, indicating that it would like to keep portions of Obamacare in place, while pushing for stronger mechanisms to get people to purchase coverage.
“In order to have a health insurance system in which everyone can obtain coverage regardless of their health status, there must be a balance among those enrolled that includes healthier individuals along with those who need significant care,” the company wrote. “To achieve this, we need strong incentives for younger, healthier people to obtain coverage and for everyone to stay covered year-round.”
Obamacare obligates people to buy health insurance or pay a tax, but millions of younger, healthier enrollees have opted out because premiums are more expensive than the fine. Some insurers have left exchanges in different states in part because of the unbalanced risk pools, but Blue Cross Blue Shield has been a prominent player. A third of U.S. counties have only one insurer to buy plans from, and often those plans are sold by Blue Cross Blue Shield, also sold under the name Anthem.
Republicans in the Senate have been working to repeal and replace portions of Obamacare. The House version of the bill, the American Health Care Act, included a provision that would allow states to apply for waivers to be exempt from certain Obamacare mandates, including obligating insurers to cover a range of medical care, from maternity care to addition treatment, and obligating them to charge the same rate to customers of the same age, regardless of health status.
While Blue Cross Blue Shield didn’t refer specifically to the bill, it said in its message that it believed health insurance should be available to everyone, regardless of pre-existing illnesses, and that adequate federal funding should be provided to assist with medical costs, taking into account income, age and regional differences. Critics of the House bill say that it does not do enough to make healthcare affordable for older, sicker enrollees, and have raised concerns about the state waivers, saying that they would allow insurers to sell prohibitively expensive plans to the sickest enrollees.
Appearing more in line with the Republican position, however, the company wrote that, “States should be empowered to meet the needs of their communities, because they know their local healthcare systems and their citizens’ needs best.”
The company also wrote that “healthcare must be more affordable for patients, families and taxpayers, and key protections — such as no lifetime caps on benefits and allowing young people to stay on their parents’ plans until age 26 — should remain in place.” The House Republican bill preserves these benefits.
