By Peter Sullivan - 09/22/16 06:00 AM EDT
Democrats are beginning to talk about changing ObamaCare to fix what they acknowledge are growing problems in the law’s insurance marketplaces.
Insurers have been dropping out of ObamaCare or hiking their premiums this year due to financial losses, fueling Republican criticism of the law ahead of the November elections.
While Democrats are pushing back at the GOP attacks, they are also expressing hope that Republicans will work with them to make fixes to the law when the new Congress convenes in 2017.
“There are things we can do and need to do to address restoring competition in these exchanges, and my hope is when we’re through the elections and past the elections, we’ll do those,” Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.) said.
Carper pointed, for example, to improving the health law’s “three Rs,” which refer to programs that were created to shield insurers from high costs and losses. Republicans have attacked these programs as a “bailout” of insurers and have restricted taxpayer money from being used on them, putting a strain on insurer finances.
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http://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/297150-dems-to-gop-help-us-fix-obamacare