It’s not surprising that opinions vary on whether our two-party system will ever be able to pass legislation again. After reading this article, read the prior post, “Opinion: Forget the Moderates, Only the Die-Hards Can Get Health Care Back on Track.”
WASHINGTON — Bipartisanship is suddenly the talk of the town on Capitol Hill this week, where Republicans and Democrats are expressing a tentative desire to join hands after a brutal debate over Obamacare repeal.
In both cases in the House and Senate, Republicans pushed back against threats by President Donald Trump to halt payments insurers are owed for reducing out-of-pocket costs, a move that health experts warn would raise premiums. Trump has argued that allowing Obamacare’s exchanges to “implode” would put political pressure on Democrats to negotiate.
“I don’t agree with the president when he starts threatening withholding” the payments, Rep. Pat Costello, R-Penn., a member of the Problem Solvers caucus, said in on MSNBC. “I mean that is extremely disruptive and would hurt American families.”
The group’s Democratic co-chair, Rep. Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J., said members agreed to concentrate on addressing rising premiums and decreased participation in Obamacare’s exchanges. While there are signs the markets are stabilizing after major premium hikes last year, they’re still fragile and insurers say the ongoing uncertainty over repeal could create additional upheaval in 2018.
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“In my opinion, any solution that Congress passes for a 2018 stabilization package would need to be small, bipartisan and balanced,” Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., the committee’s chairman, said in a statement.
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