Monday afternoon Iowa Insurance Division Commissioner Doug Ommen announced that Iowa is withdrawing its Stopgap Measure (Section 1332 Waiver) from federal consideration. The measure was designed to help Iowans who have been impacted by rising premiums. Medica, the last remaining insurer in Iowa’s individual market, announced in June they were increasing their rates by 57 percent.
As the state made adjustments to the Stopgap Measure to cover certain levels of out-of-pocket cost for low-income Iowans. As Iowa made those adjustments, the Stopgap MeasureĀ became more expensive and it looked less and less like state flexibility and more like Obamacare.
āPremiums under Obamacare have increased 110% for Iowans since 2013, and thousands of Iowans can no longer afford health insurance,ā Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Seema Verma said in a joint statement. āIowa pursued state flexibility through the Stopgap Measure, but ultimately, Obamacare is an inflexible law that Congress must repeal and replace. Obamacare is unaffordable, unsustainable and unworkable.ā
āObamacare is an unworkable law,ā IID Commissioner Ommen said. āThe Stopgap Measure was an innovative solution to help thousands of Iowans. Unfortunately, Obamacareās waiver rules are so inflexible that the Stopgap cannot be approved under terms that would be workable for Iowa. This is evidenced by the fact that a bipartisan group of senators recently announced a bill to fix some of the inflexibilities on Obamacareās waiver provision that Iowa has run into.ā
“Obamacareās Section 1332 says that states can file for an innovative waiver, but if those states are facing a failing market, and if they are successful in stabilizing the market and bringing people back in, the waiver will not work. In other words, the title of Section 1332ā’state innovation waiversāis an oxymoron,” Ommen added.
Reynolds on Twitter announced that she was going to urge Vice President Mike Pence to continue to push for Obamacare’s repeal and replacement when she meets with him tomorrow.
(1/4) I meet with @VP Pence in DC tomorrow to talk about individual market collapse in Iowa #iagov #iapolitics
— Gov. Kim Reynolds (@IAGovernor) October 23, 2017
(2/4) āWhat am I going to keep asking for? Congress to repeal & replace. Iām going to talk about what we went through.ā #iagov #iapolitics
— Gov. Kim Reynolds (@IAGovernor) October 23, 2017
(3/4) āIām going to make sure he [@VP Pence] understands the inflexibilityā¦the impact that has on Iowa.ā #iagov #iapolitics
— Gov. Kim Reynolds (@IAGovernor) October 23, 2017
(4/4) āObamacare is unaffordable, unsustainable & unworkable.ā #iagov #iapoliticshttps://t.co/huHlIPBZAj
— Gov. Kim Reynolds (@IAGovernor) October 23, 2017
Iowa Speaker of the House Linda Upmeyer (R-Clear Lake) responded to the news on Twitter.
Thank u @KimReynoldsIA for your hard work on the Stopgap plan. It was never a permanent solution, but at least gave Iowans a choice #ialegis
— Linda Upmeyer (@SpeakerUpmeyer) October 23, 2017
In 2014 Iowa had 9 insurance carriers. Now only 1.
There are deep flaws in Obamacare and its leaving Iowans out in the cold #ialegis
— Linda Upmeyer (@SpeakerUpmeyer) October 23, 2017
Obamacareās top down, one size fits all approach is failing Iowans. Time for Congress to act & give states flexibility to innovate #ialegis
— Linda Upmeyer (@SpeakerUpmeyer) October 23, 2017
President Donald Trump earlier this month signed an executive order in order to promote healthcare choice and competition. He ordered theĀ Secretaries of the Treasury, Labor, and Health and Human Services to consider proposing regulations or revising guidance that helps expand Association Health Plans, short-term plans, and health reimbursement accounts. It is unclear how quickly the rulemaking process will be complete in order for Americans to see any benefit.
Congress has failed to repeal and replace Obamacare or pass any kind of fix for the individual market.
Iowans eligible for Obamacare subsidies or who canĀ afford the premiums will be able to sign up for health insurance on healthcare.gov, starting November 1, 2017, with Medica.
