By Susan Rupe
InsuranceNewsNet November 7, 2018
Now that Democrats
won a majority in the House of Representatives, the Affordable Care Act “is
here to stay,” a health care legislation expert said.
Arthur Tacchino is
chief innovation officer at SyncStream, an ACA compliance company. He spoke
with InsuranceNewsNet on how the midterm congressional election will affect
health care in the next two years.
“The biggest
takeaway from the election is that the uncertainty over ACA being repealed has
gone away,” Tacchino said.
Congress made a
major effort last year to repeal and replace the ACA. But except for doing away
with the individual mandate penalty as part of tax reform legislation at the
end of 2017, the attempt to do away with the ACA never came to fruition. The
key provisions of the law stayed in place.
“I think one thing
that will come out of the Democratic win last night is that it stabilizes and
creates a little more certainty that the ACA is here to stay,” Tacchino said.
“And current key provisions of law such as the employer mandate, the
marketplaces, the protections of pre-existing conditions – all those things are
really here to stay.”
The advantage for
agents and brokers is that they can tell their clients with certainty that no
major changes to the law are expected any time soon, Tacchino said. This will
allow brokers to focus on getting clients enrolled in the coverage that fits
their needs.
“They can say,
‘Given that we don’t expect any major changes, what are the best options for
you? How can we best advise you?’ It just removes that uncertainty.”
Although Congress
was unsuccessful in getting rid of the ACA, President Donald Trump used
executive orders and guidance to chip away at some of the law’s provisions. We
can expect to see the administration continue to find ways to undermine the
ACA, Tacchino said.
Despite the major
differences between Democrats and Republicans regarding health care, Tacchino
said there are two areas of what he called “mutual ground” where the two
parties could work together to find a solution.
One is bringing
down the cost of prescription drugs, which was not regulated by the ACA. The
other is abolishing the Cadillac Tax, an issue that both parties favor.
“But keeping the
marketplace, keeping pre-existing conditions, I think those things are
solidified at this point,” Tacchino said.
Susan Rupe is managing editor for InsuranceNewsNet. She formerly
served as communications director for an insurance agents' association and was
an award-winning newspaper reporter and editor. Contact her atSusan.Rupe@innfeedback.com. Follow her
on Twitter @INNsusan.
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