[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 13]
[House]
[Pages 18425-18426]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                    INDIANA'S WAIVER REQUEST DENIAL

  (Mr. STUTZMAN asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. STUTZMAN. I rise today to express my extreme disappointment with 
the recent HHS decision to deny Indiana's sensible waiver request that 
would have allowed our State to ease into the new rule that requires 
insurers selling policies to individuals to dedicate 80 percent of 
premiums they collect to medical care. This decision was

[[Page 18426]]

made on the basis that insurers doing business in Indiana were deemed 
``profitable enough.'' CMS claimed that no provider would be forced to 
leave because of the denial of such a waiver. However, it was the very 
specter of uncertainty surrounding the President's health care law that 
resulted in five providers leaving the Indiana market this summer. 
Invariably, the departure of providers from our State and the denial of 
this waiver will limit competition and push prices higher.
  Let this serve as a warning to other States. Creative and consumer-
driven solutions to meet our citizens' medical needs will be 
disproportionately harmed under the President's denial of these 
waivers.

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