One state pursues 'end of ObamaCare,' setting stage for new fight

[txradioguy]

Idaho has become ground zero in a new ObamaCare fight, with officials pursuing major changes that could serve as a national model for other states looking to expand insurance options in defiance of the law – even as Democrats warn of higher costs for vulnerable customers.

As soon as April, Blue Cross of Idaho is planning to make new options available.

That’s after Gov. Butch Otter and Lt. Gov. Brad Little co-signed an executive order asking the Department of Insurance to seek creative ways to make health coverage more affordable. The move opened the door for plans that don’t adhere to ObamaCare coverage requirements – though with the Trump administration testing similar ideas, the state may be unlikely to face much resistance from the White House.

“Perhaps the example in Idaho can help chip away at ObamaCare,” Little told Fox News.

The state's insurance department now aims to let insurers sell cheaper, less comprehensive plans that officials project could reduce insurance costs by 30 to 50 percent. Insurance carriers still would have to offer plans on the state’s exchange, Your Health Idaho, while federal subsidies would continue to be available.

Idaho was among the first to act after Congress voted in December to ditch the federal penalty for not buying insurance compliant with the 2010 Affordable Care Act. Though the provision does not take effect until 2019 – and Congress was unable to ditch the ACA as a whole last year – it represented a major swipe at the Obama-era policy.

Going further, Little has called his state’s plan the “end of ObamaCare in Idaho.”


http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2018/02/27/one-state-pursues-end-obamacare-setting-stage-for-new-fight.html

[To-Whose-Benefit?]

“We strongly oppose blah, blah, blah, . . . ” said the letter from Sens. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Patty Murray, D-Wash., and Reps. Frank Pallone, D-N.J., and Richard Neal, D-Mass.

I hope this plan takes off like a Saturn rocket, making other states take notice and follow.