“Our state government has worked diligently to control costs, increase access
to coverage, and create a model for others to follow when it comes to
healthcare,” said Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr. “We shouldn’t now be
penalized and punished by a federal law that takes away critical components of
that model, and in doing so, causes undue costs for consumers and economic
penalties for employers.”
Among the amendments that Senator Tarr, Assistant Minority Leader Robert Hedlund
(R-Weymouth), Minority Whip Richard Ross (R-Wrentham) and Ranking Senate Ways
and Means Committee member Michael Knapik (R-Westfield) are seeking to secure
include measures to:
• Require reporting of the cost to comply with ACA mandates by the Executive
Office of Health and Human Services, the Commonwealth Health Insurance
Connector, and the Center for Health Information Analysis, and the Health
Policy Commission;
• Require reporting of the impacts associated with the medical device tax imposed
by the act on Massachusetts manufacturers by the Executive Office of Housing
and Economic Development, and the Department of Revenue;
• Eliminate the mandate that all insurance policies must have prescription drug
coverage, which increases premiums and limits choice;
• Increase of the membership of the Health Insurance Connector to include a
consumer organization, and three who represent employers in various
geographical locations and employee size;
• Increase the number of association health plan cooperatives to allow small
businesses to purchase health insurance as a group; and
• Strengthen Federal Waiver efforts to prevent Massachusetts from losing tools to
control insurance costs such as rating factors and annual rate settings.
Rather
than the state summarily proceeding with the elimination of cost reducing
health insurance rating factors that provide both small and large businesses
with the financial flexibility to provide affordable healthcare to their
employees, Senate Republicans want the state to go beyond the January 2016
phase-in extension provided by the federal government to seek an outright
waiver of many of the costly provisions.
“Ensuring
every Massachusetts citizen continues to have access to affordable health care
coverage is paramount to strengthening our Commonwealth and growing our
economy,” said Senator Hedlund. “We need to make sure the progress we
have made in creating a model for the rest of the nation continues to evolve
rather than take a backseat to federal regulations that weaken our goal of
access and affordability.”
“Massachusetts
has become the model for the entire nation on quality health care reform,” said
Senator Ross. “It is a shame that the federal government is now implementing
new regulations that will effectively detract from the great strides that the
Commonwealth has made in making affordable health care available. The federal
government should refrain from interfering with a state’s working model,
particularly one that has shown such success.”
“The
federal Affordable Care Act should strengthen our model for healthcare, not
weaken it. We need to take decisive action to push back against federal
measures that will undermine our state’s chances for success in controlling
costs and increasing access,” said Senator Tarr.
