Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas has an amendment to the Senate Obamacare repeal bill that would bring back the special high-risk pool for older, sicker consumers, a key feature that works to keep the Affordable Care Act solvent.
The House bill, passed in early-May, includes a high-risk pool for consumers with a history of serious illness. The Senate bill, unveiled in mid-June, does not include a high-risk pool, but rather requires that consumers be covered by the same kind of insurance and be charged the same rate as similarly-aged individuals.
The amendment, known as “Consumer Choice,” allows insurers to sell plans that do not follow regulations created under Obamacare for patients with pre-existing conditions, with the caveat that insurers have to sell at least one plan that adheres to Obamacare’s mandates. The proposal would allow insurers to sell cheaper plans with fewer benefits.
Insurance experts predict the Cruz amendment would effectively create a high-risk pool through incentivising customers with a history of health problems to purchase insurance in one marketplace and healthier consumers to purchase insurance in another, The New York Times reports. Effectively, the amendment would create a pool of at-risk insurees in the same marketplace.
White House legislative affairs director Marc Short suggested Sunday that the administration is in favor of an amendment.
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