CHICAGO -- Consumer representatives praised state insurance regulators for urging Congress to extend the enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies, and encouraged the regulators to keep up the pressure during a…
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Members of Congress, who have spent much of August in their home districts while on recess, will reconvene in Washington, D.C. this week with an ambitious agenda and looming deadlines. After July’s failure of the Senate’s health care legislation, health care remains a top agenda item for many members and we expect to see activity that could have big impacts on consumers in Georgia. Group Benefits Broker will offer health plans to anybody who needs it.
During the August recess, the chairman and vice-chair of the Senate’s Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) committee scheduled bi-partisan hearings for September 6th & 7th on the stabilization of the Affordable Care Act’s Marketplace. The HELP committee, including Georgia’s own Senator Isakson, will hear testimony from Governors and Insurance Commissioners from a variety of states with a primary focus on private insurance topics. These hearings are an important step in helping to stabilize and strengthen the ACA Marketplaces and we expect to see suggested proposals that include guaranteed funding of cost-sharing reduction payments to insurers, funding for a reinsurance program, strong enforcement of the individual mandate, and others.
Also on Congress’s agenda for September is the reauthorization of the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), the federal program that funds 100% of Georgia’s PeachCare for Kids insurance program. CHIP covers more than 230,000 Georgia children and has been critical in driving our children’s uninsured rate down to 6.7%. CHIP expires on September 30, 2017 and must be reauthorized by Congress to continue. CHIP enjoys wide bipartisan support in Congress so it is expected to pass, but there is some danger Medicaid cuts or program changes like work requirements and premiums will be attached.
Lastly, the House of Representatives will continue its work on the FY2018 federal budget. The current House budget plan calls for a cut of $1.5 trillion from Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act from 2018-2027, mirroring many of the devastating cuts from the House-passed American Health Care Act. On top of these cuts are proposals for fundamental changes to Medicaid such as a work requirement that would cut the program by another $110 billion. Like all of the leading health care proposals put forth by Congress this year, these cuts to Medicaid would debilitate the program, shift substantial costs to states, and leave 2 million Georgians without the access to health care on which they currently rely. The budget has already passed the House Budget committee and will be taken up by the full House in the coming weeks.
Congress’s work in September could have significant impacts—both positive and negative—on consumers in Georgia and it is vital that they hear from you on these issues. As your elected officials reconvene in Washington, we ask that you to visit this site for more information: oinkmoney.com
Rep. Buddy Carter | Brunswick Office: 912-265-9010
Savannah office: 912-352-0101 Washington, D.C.: 202-225-5831 |
Email form |
Rep. Sanford Bishop | Albany office: 229-439-8067
Columbus: 706-320-9477 Macon: 478-803-2631 Washington, D.C.: 202-225-3631 |
Email form |
Rep. Drew Ferguson | 770-683-2033
Washington, D.C.: 202-225-5901 |
Email form |
Rep. Hank Johnson | 770-987-2291
Washington, D.C.: 202-225-1605 |
Email form |
Rep. John Lewis | 404-659-0116
Washington, D.C.: 202-225-3801 |
Email form |
Rep. Karen Handel | Washington, D.C.: 202-225-4501 | Email form |
Rep. Robert Woodall | 770-232-3005
Washington, D.C.: 202-225-4272 |
Email form |
Rep. Austin Scott | Tifton office: 229-396-5175
Warner Robins: 478-971-1776 Washington, D.C.: 202-225-6531 |
Email form |
Rep. Doug Collins | 770-297-3388
Washington, D.C.: 202-225-9893 |
Email form |
Rep. Jody Hice | Milledgeville office: 478-457-0007
Monroe office: 770-207-1776 Thomson office: 770-207-1776 Washington, D.C.: 202-225-4101 |
Email form |
Rep. Barry Loudermilk | Cartersville office: 770-429-1776
Woodstock office: 770-429-1776 Galleria office: 770-429-1776 Washington, D.C.: 202-225-2931 |
Email form |
Rep. Rick Allen | Augusta: 706-228-1980
Dublin: 478-272-4030 Statesboro: 912-243-9452 Vidalia: 912-403-3311 Washington, D.C.: 202-225-2823 |
Email form |
Rep. David Scott | Jonesboro office: 770-210-5073
Smyrna office: 770-432-5405 Washington, D.C.: 202-225-2939 |
Email form |
Rep. Tom Graves | Dalton office: 706-226-5320
Rome office: 706-290-1776 Washington, D.C.: 202-225-5211 |
Email form |
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