Premiums Likely to Rise Amid Fallout From Graham-Cassidy Health Bill
In taking one last shot to overhaul the Affordable Care Act, Senate Republicans derailed a rare bipartisan push to stabilize the nation’s health insurance marketplaces and prevent double-digit rate hikes for many Obamacare customers next year.

In taking one last shot to overhaul the Affordable Care Act, Senate Republicans derailed a rare bipartisan push to stabilize the nation’s health insurance marketplaces and prevent double-digit rate hikes for many Obamacare customers next year.

Earlier this month, there was a glimmer of hope that partisan warfare over the ACA had finally fizzled on Capitol Hill. Returning from the August recess, the Senate’s health committee launched a bipartisan effort — backed by health insurers and governors — to stabilize the ACA before a critical Sept. 27 deadline.

The push focused on short-term fixes to stave off increases in health insurance premiums, including extending key cost-sharing reduction payments that President Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened to cut off and granting states more flexibility to establish reinsurance programs, which help insurers pay for their most expensive claims.

But that effort died last week amid the resurgence of partisan health care proposals, most notably after some Senate Republicans, with support from the White House, pushed an 11th-hour bid to revive a repeal effort before the end of the month. While that last-ditch Obamacare repeal push floundered Tuesday, there is little residual momentum among Republicans who supported the stabilization bill to resume negotiations with Democrats.

Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), who spearheaded the bipartisan effort with ranking member Patty Murray (D-Wash.), blamed both sides for killing momentum on a bipartisan fix: Republicans for resuming their Obamacare repeal push and some Democrats for rallying behind a single-payer health care proposal.

“We stopped bipartisan talks last week because my goal wasn’t just to get a bipartisan agreement, it was to get a bipartisan result,” Alexander told reporters Monday. “And I didn’t see any way to get one in the current political environment.”

But on Tuesday Alexander — who said he supported the latest GOP repeal push — reversed course, saying in a statement he would reach out to committee members of both parties about resuming discussions about a “limited bipartisan plan.”