Congressman Bill Huizenga is hoping healthcare legislation approved this week by House Republicans could become the basis for a broader effort to reduce costs for everyone after the new year.
The GOP plan passed the House with no chance of approval in the Senate because it didn’t include an extension of expiring Affordable Care Act subsidies. Huizenga says it instead would reduce insurance premiums for the average American by 11%. He adds the ACA subsidy system, including COVID-era subsidies, only affects about 7% of people with coverage and that many enrollees — about half of the 24 million signed up — have never used their insurance.
“When we’ve got half of the people that are signed up not even utilizing it, that indicates that there’s some real problems,” Huizenga said. “One of the other problems that has been discovered is that there are millions upon millions of accounts that are not attached to Social Security numbers or to individuals, and we believe that that’s fraud.”
Huizenga says his hope is that the GOP legislation from this week can be part of a broader plan in the coming year.
“We’ve got to address the ACA part of this, but we also have to address why health care for everyone else has just exploded and become even more unaffordable.”
The House Republican plan, called the Lower Health Care Premiums for All Americans Act, would also expand association health plans, lower premiums for some ACA enrollees, and seek to reduce drug costs.
Huizenga adds a vote is still expected next year on extending COVID-era subsidies through a discharge petition, although after the subsidies have expired.
