In a joint business community letter, HR Policy encouraged Congress to strengthen the individual market by providing reinsurance funding to the states and increasing state flexibility while protecting ERISA. The letter asks Congress to:
- Provide states $5 to $10 billion in reinsurance funding to ensure a stable risk pool in the individual market and reduce premiums by 9 to 11 percent in 2019; and
- Provide states with greater ACA waiver authority to enact reforms while ensuring that “federal policies do not provide states with the authority to preempt the Employment Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA)."
The letter further notes that “a patchwork of state and local mandates that require self-insured employers to play by different rules will hinder, not help, the expansion of health coverage in America.” Separately, a bipartisan group of governors released a blueprint for healthcare reform that outlines steps to guide health reform, including stabilizing the Affordable Care Act's individual marketplaces and allowing states the flexibility to improve their Medicaid programs.
