- November 6, 2019
Carper in CNBC Op-ed: “When we let the ACA work, it actually does”
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Tom Carper (D-Del.), senior member of the Senate Finance Committee, authored an op-ed in CNBC marking the start of open enrollment season, which runs November 1st through December 15th, 2019.
“When it comes to crafting effective policies for our country, I believe that we should find out what works and do more of that. As health care open enrollment begins, there is growing evidence that the Affordable Care Act is working, and it is imperative that we build on its success – not tear it down,” wrote Senator Carper.
Senator Carper noted that, despite Republicans’ repeated efforts to dismantle the ACA, the health care law is working and providing millions of American families access to quality, affordable health insurance, “As we kick off the 2020 open enrollment period, 43 new insurers will be offering coverage in marketplaces of states around the country in the coming year. That gain comes on top of the 23 new insurers that were added in 2019.
“And as competition increases in the ACA marketplaces, premiums have begun to stabilize. Some are even decreasing. Next year, premiums for the most popular ACA plans across America are set to drop by 4 percent. Even more encouraging, multiple states will see average premiums come down by double digits in their exchanges next year.”
On Monday, Senator Carper joined Governor Carney, Insurance Commissioner Trinidad Navarro and Department of Health and Social Services Secretary Dr. Kara Odom Walker, to announce that Delaware’s Health Insurance Marketplace will have a 19 percent drop in rates for 2020. Maryland, Colorado and Montana will see similar price reductions, due in large part, to the implementation of a reinsurance program designed to help insurers pay for some of their costliest patients.
More excerpts from the op-ed are below, and the full piece can be viewed here.
“As it turns out, the ACA is more popular now than ever. More than 20 million Americans have gained health care coverage through the law. Nearly 130 million Americans living with pre-existing conditions have critical protections they didn’t have before. The law has expanded Medicaid coverage for 12.6 million more Americans and extended the life of the Medicare Trust Fund by 11 years. And this progress was made all while reducing the federal deficit by more than $1 trillion.”
Senator Carper concluded, “Imagine where our nation’s health care system could be today if we had spent the last decade implementing the ACA as intended and making common sense improvements to it rather than deliberately sabotaging it! Let’s finally put patients before politics and make the common sense improvements to continue to lower health care costs for the American people.”
You can read the full op-ed here.
You can find quality, affordable health insurance here until December 15th.