Dive Brief:
- Criticism of the risk corridors program that aims to help protect insurers in the early years of the ACA is misguided, argued America's Health Insurance Plans executive vice president Matthew Eyles in a letter to The Wall Street Journal.
- The letter comes in response to arguments against the controversial program, sometimes characterized as an insurer bailout, and specifically to Sen. Marco Rubio’s recent op-ed that railed against insurers' recent legal efforts to get the program's originally promised pay-outs.
- Eyles both defended the justification for the program and argued it's necessary to promote a stable market capable of delivering affordability to consumers.
Dive Insight:
The program is drawing extra attention now as multiple insurers seek recourse against the federal government for its failure to come through on the initially promised funding. "That the health-insurance companies are suing to try to get their bailout is disgusting," Rubio said in his May op-ed, arguing the law is on the government's side and that the Obama administration should fight back against the lawsuits.
In response, Eyles noted risk corridors are nothing new or specific to this program, calling the effort a "time-tested policy that has been used on a bipartisan basis as part of many insurance initiatives, including Medicare’s highly successful prescription drug program."
He suggested it has been successful under the ACA given that health plans have heeded the government's call to the marketplaces and met the necessary requirements for participation.
Eyles points toward the turnaround on funding the program--from full to budget neutral--as the catalyst for the numerous shutdowns and policy changes that have upset coverage for more than 800,000 policyholders across the U.S.