Both parties must give ground to craft a compromise bill shoring up the nation’s individual health insurance markets or they’ll be blamed for hurting millions of consumers, the chairman of the Senate health committee said Wednesday.
U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., spoke as his panel held the first of four hearings in its effort to see if Democrats and Republicans can forge a modest bill aimed at curbing premium increases and preventing insurers from fleeing some marketplaces. The effort will show whether divided Republicans are willing to pivot from trying to obliterate the Obama health care law to helping it survive, and if both parties can overcome lingering raw feelings over that battle.
Alexander said he wants a bipartisan bill produced by the end of next week. By late September, insurers must decide whether they will sell policies in the government’s Healthcare.gov online exchanges in 2018, and he and top panel Democrat Patty Murray of Washington state hope to quickly produce a bill that would ease companies’ anxieties.
Failure to produce legislation will hurt millions of Americans buying individual insurance who’d face big premium boosts and less competition.
“The blame will be on every one of us, and deservedly so,” Alexander said.