Hittner: ACA has helped R.I. save $220M since 2012

R.I. HEALTH INSURANCE COMMISSIONER Dr. Kathleen C. Hittner has written to the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions arguing that a repeal of the Affordable Care Act would result in a number of negative consequences, among them coverage loss and economic losses in Rhode Island. / PBN FILE PHOTO/TRACY JENKINS
R.I. HEALTH INSURANCE COMMISSIONER Dr. Kathleen C. Hittner has written to the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions arguing that a repeal of the Affordable Care Act would result in a number of negative consequences, among them coverage loss and economic losses in Rhode Island. / PBN FILE PHOTO/TRACY JENKINS

CRANSTON – The state’s top health insurance regulator is urging Congress not to change the framework of the Affordable Care Act, saying its repeal would harm systemic changes happening in Rhode Island and stall momentum made toward making health care and health insurance more affordable.

Dr. Kathleen C. Hittner, Rhode Island’s health insurance commissioner, wrote a letter to the chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, saying a repeal of the ACA, known popularly as Obamacare, would result in coverage loss, destabilized risk pools, economic losses and economic uncertainty in Rhode Island.

“We are on the cusp of achieving unprecedented improvements in the quality of affordability of our state’s health care system,” Hittner wrote. “I recommend that any policy changes to the ACA keep the existing financial structure intact, maintain the coverage gains of recent years and preserve vital consumer protections to ensure financial stability and access to fair coverage for Rhode Island’s families.”

Since the latest term of Congress began on Jan. 3, members of Congress have rushed to gut the federal health care law. President-elect Donald J. Trump, who is scheduled to be sworn into office on Friday, has likewise said he wants to repeal and replace the ACA. The health care reform act was passed, enacted and implemented under President Barack Obama.

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“Time for Republicans & Democrats to get together and come up with a healthcare plan that really works – much less expensive & FAR BETTER!” Trump tweeted on Jan. 5.

Hittner, who was appointed to run the Office of the Health Insurance Commissioner in 2013 by former Gov. Lincoln D. Chafee, says funding from the ACA allowed her office to create its current risk-review program, which has saved Rhode Island consumers and businesses about $220 million since 2012.

“The ACA has worked in Rhode Island, and we have a remarkable story to tell,” she wrote.

Hittner points to the “relatively modest” gains realized in the premium costs for the both the individual and small-group insurance markets over the last three years, which bucks a national trend of fast-rising costs. The 2017 average premium changes in the individual market will range from a 5.9 percent decrease to a 5.9 percent increase. The average premium changes in the small-group market will range from a 3.1 percent decrease to a 3.6 percent increase.

Likewise, since inception, the ACA has resulted in more than 110,000 Rhode Islanders gaining access both through the state-based exchange, HealthSource RI (about 33,000 people), and Medicaid expansion (about 77,000 people). The uninsured rate in Rhode Island fell from 11 percent to 4 percent between 2012 and 2016, according to the state-administered R.I. Health Insurance Survey.

On Tuesday, the nonpartisan U.S. Congressional Budget Office released a report saying about 18 million people would lose coverage within a year if the ACA were repealed without a replacement. At the same time, premiums would rise as much as 25 percent in the first year.

The expansion realized in Rhode Island has largely come on the back of federal subsidies and cost-sharing measures, which if they were to disappear via a repeal would leave “our most socially and economically vulnerable residents without coverage and access to life-saving care,” according to Hittner. “We can’t truly transform our health-care system unless everyone has access to insurance, providers are being compensated for the care they deliver, and we have predictability in federal health-care policy.”

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