BY PETER
SULLIVAN - 03/12/18 12:31 PM EDT
A coalition of 15
conservative groups wrote to Congress on Monday to urge against including a
“bailout” of ObamaCare in the coming government funding bill.
The groups are putting
pressure on lawmakers amid bipartisan negotiations on providing payments to
health insurance companies with the goal of stabilizing markets and lowering
premiums. But the conservative groups see those payments as a bailout for the
health-care law.
“Lawmakers should
fulfill their longstanding promise of repealing and replacing Obamacare, not
setting the dangerous precedent of bailing it out,” writes the coalition, which include Heritage
Action, Club for Growth and Americans for Prosperity.
“We the undersigned
organizations, urge all members of Congress to repeal and replace Obamacare and
to reject taxpayer bailouts for Obamacare and private health insurance
companies, particularly in upcoming government spending bills,” the letter
adds.
Congress
must fund the government by March 23 to avoid a shutdown, a measure that could
be a vehicle for the ObamaCare payments.
Some more moderate
Republicans support the idea of providing the ObamaCare payments, with the goal
of lowering premiums.
But conservatives have
long opposed the idea.
The two kinds of
payments in question are cost-sharing reductions, which reimburse insurers for
discounts to low-income enrollees, and reinsurance, which helps cover the cost
of especially sick enrollees.
The groups reject the
argument that the payments would only be for a year or two.
“The same insurers who
are lobbying for bailout money this year will be back again when funding
expires, threatening to withdraw from the exchanges or raise premiums if
bailouts aren’t extended,” the groups write.
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