Dive Brief:
- This year's turmoil in the ACA marketplaces, after numerous insurers dropped out and many others have sought premium increases in the double digits, has opened the door for a new front in the war on Obamacare: chipping away at the individual mandate.
- Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is working to fast-track two GOP bills on the subject by adding them to the Senate calendar and bypassing the committee process.
- That maneuver makes both bills available for floor time or a vote, which a spokeswoman for Sen. Tom Cotton said they hope to see in the fall, The Hill reported.
Dive Insight:
If the votes are pinned down for this fall, they could add more weight to the debates around Obamacare as the presidential election, and open enrollment, loom in November.
The rising premiums and insurer departures of the the past several months have fanned some flames of discontent around the healthcare law, with a new Gallup poll indicating that since this spring, the percentage Americans who approve of it has slightly dipped from 47% to 44%.
The first GOP measure being fast-tracked, from Sen. John McCain, seeks to exempt people from the individual mandate if their county has fewer than two choices for coverage to avoid consumers being forced to buy from an insurer with an area monopoly.
The second GOP measure, from Sen. Tom Cotton, aims to exempt people from the mandate if premiums in their state have increased by an average of more than 10%.
If the measures are approved, however, they could further chip away at the health law's effectiveness given that it depends upon the mandate to draw in consumers other than just those who are sick. Widespread exemptions could worsen the already-expensive risk pool that has contributed to the higher premiums and insurer departures, and the hit would come just as the current administration attempts to draw in more of those younger and healthier adults.