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Governors back bipartisan Senate bid to control health costs

In this Sept. 5, 2017, photo, the Capitol is seen in Washington. Senators are launching hearings to help Republicans and Democrats decide if they can forge a modest agreement to shore up the nation’s individual insurance markets. The effort will show whether divided Republicans are ready 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. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
In this Sept. 5, 2017, photo, the Capitol is seen in Washington. Senators are launching hearings to help Republicans and Democrats decide if they can forge a modest agreement to shore up the nation’s individual insurance markets. The effort will show whether divided Republicans are ready 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. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) In this Sept. 5, 2017, photo, the Capitol is seen in Washington. Senators are launching hearings to help Republicans and Democrats decide if they can forge a modest agreement to shore up the nation’s individual insurance markets. The effort will show whether divided Republicans are ready 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. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

By Associated Press 1 min read

WASHINGTON (AP) – A group of Republican and Democratic governors is endorsing a bipartisan Senate effort to control health insurance costs.

Five governors are testifying before the Senate health committee. The three Republicans and two Democrats have each backed continuing federal payments that help insurers lower out-of-pocket costs for millions of lower-earning people.

President Donald Trump has called those payments bailouts for insurers and he’s threatened to halt the payment as part of his drive to dismantle the Obama-era health law.

Gary Herbert – Utah’s Republican governor – says abruptly ending those subsidies would “destabilize” his state’s markets where individual coverage is sold.

The governors also are backing more state flexibility to decide coverage requirements, and federal aid to help insurers afford high-cost customers with serious conditions.