ATR is supportive of an important new bill introduced by Senator Marco Rubio (R-Florida) and Congressman Tim Griffin (R-Ark.) S. 1726/H.R. 3541 would strip out of Obamacare an impending bailout of health insurance companies who will lose money in Obamacare exchanges.
Under the Obamacare law, "risk corridors" are created for participating insurance companies. In this scheme, an insurance company which expends more than anticipated on Obamacare insurance claims will receive a bailout of up to 80 percent of their loss amount. This bailout is intended to be funded by competing insurance companies who spent less than expected, but the bailout of insurance companies ultimately comes out of taxpayers' wallets.
Since very few Americans are actually signing up for Obamacare plans, it's very likely that most participating insurance companies will find themselves eligible for this bailout toward the end of 2014. If Congress does nothing, insurance companies will receive a taxpayer-financed corporate bailout because the Obamacare system is broken and cannot be fixed.
That cannot be allowed to happen. S. 1726 and H.R. 3541 would prevent this bailout of health insurance companies. They are the ones that colluded with the Obama Administration to saddle the country with Obamacare, and they should be full partners in its losses.