Donnelly Calls on Senate to Abandon Partisan Repeal Effort, Resume Bipartisan Health Care Stabilization Discussions

Press Release

U.S. Senator Joe Donnelly today called on the Senate to abandon the partisan Graham-Cassidy health care bill and instead return to the bipartisan health care marketplace stabilization discussions that he has actively been involved in. Donnelly has participated in bipartisan negotiations and listening sessions with health care experts, led by Senate HELP Committee Chairman Senator Lamar Alexander (R-TN) and Ranking member, Senator Patty Murray (D-WA).

Donnelly said, "Every minute the Senate spends on partisan health care repeal efforts like the Graham-Cassidy bill, which would undermine coverage for more than 400,000 Hoosiers, is time we could instead be spending on making bipartisan fixes to our existing health care system. I have long said we should work together to improve health care, and I hope the bipartisan discussions I have been participating in along with many of my colleagues--Republican and Democratic--will resume. This week, as Indiana's health insurers finalize their rates and plans for 2018, we should be working together in the Senate to provide the individual marketplaces -- and families across our country -- with certainty and stability."

On Wednesday, September 27, insurers must submit their final 2018 insurance rates. Indiana's insurers have been calling for stability and certainty, particularly around Cost Sharing Reduction (CSR) payments, which help reduce copays and deductibles. According to Indiana insurers, the combination of legislative uncertainty created by efforts to repeal the health care law and the Administration's failure to commit to making Cost Share Reduction (CSR) payments is likely to result in 15% cost increases in 2018. For months, Donnelly has been calling on the Administration to commit to making the CSR payments and has been actively engaged in bipartisan efforts in the Senate to stabilize the insurance markets.

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