[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 116 (Wednesday, July 11, 2018)]
[House]
[Pages H6046-H6047]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                IMPROVING CHOICES IN HEALTHCARE COVERAGE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
North Carolina (Mr. Budd) for 5 minutes.

[[Page H6047]]

  

  Mr. BUDD. Mr. Speaker, the cost of health insurance is on the minds 
of many Americans this summer, and it should be.
  Nearly half a million people in North Carolina buy their health 
insurance on the ObamaCare marketplace. The average price for these 
plans continues to go up each and every year.
  This wouldn't be as much of an issue if there were many options to 
choose from, but, unfortunately, there are not. Blue Cross, the only 
insurer that is still in all 100 counties in our State, announced that 
they were raising rates by an average of nearly 19 percent going into 
2017. Then they raised them again this year by over 14 percent. I 
expect them to do the same next year, the year after that, and in 
coming years after that.
  It is clear to me that the individual mandate didn't actually lower 
the cost of health insurance, and bailing out big insurance companies 
certainly didn't help either.
  Mr. Speaker, as you know very well, we need an off-ramp from 
ObamaCare. We need a solution that allows for more competition, because 
competition drives down prices and allows people to purchase health 
insurance without going bankrupt.
  While we continue to work toward getting a full repeal and replace on 
the President's desk, I believe we should also pass a simple bill right 
now that would provide millions of Americans a way to buy more 
affordable health insurance
  Short-term, limited-duration medical plans are designed to provide 
coverage for a limited time when someone is between health insurance 
policies--individuals who are between jobs, for example--but these 
plans are also exempt from having to abide by ObamaCare's regulatory 
regime.
  The Obama administration was concerned with these plans becoming 
attractive alternatives to ObamaCare. So before they left office in 
2016, they issued a regulation that defined these short-term policies 
as those that are less than 3 months long.
  I believe strengthening these types of plans would be a huge step in 
the right direction. That is why, last month, I introduced a simple 
bill called the Improving Choices in Health Care Coverage Act.
  This bill would do two simple things. It would allow people to stay 
on these less expensive, short-term medical plans for as long as 364 
days, and it would allow them to renew these plans for multiple years.
  According to the American Action Forum, which looked at different 
findings from the Congressional Budget Office, the Urban Institute, and 
the Commonwealth Fund, there seems to be a consensus that these plans 
would be attractive to consumers because of their low premiums, and, 
thus, enrollment would likely be into the millions.
  I hear from constituents every time I go back home that their monthly 
premiums are way too high. Mr. Speaker, this bill is one way we can 
relieve some of their financial stress. With looming announcements by 
big insurance companies that they are again going to be increasing 
premiums, the time to act is now.

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