The continuing resolution that keeps the federal government running, which was passed by Congress before they went home to campaign, will expire on December 11th and fourteen congressional Republicans have written a little to John Boehner urging him to block any funding measure that includes a specific provision of Obamacare.
The group of 14 lawmakers, led by Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), have taken aim at the risk-corridor component of the health care exchanges, a temporary program designed to prevent premiums from skyrocketing during the early years of Obamacare implementation.
More:
The 14 Republicans, led by Marco Rubio of Florida, wrote a letter urging Speaker John A. Boehner to ”prohibit the Obama administration” from spending money on an “Obamacare taxpayer bailout.” [...]
Rubio’s been joined on the letter by John Barrasso of Wyoming, Mike Lee of Utah, David Vitter of Louisiana, Ted Cruz of Texas, Michael B. Enzi of Wyoming, James M. Inhofe of Oklahoma, Jeff Sessions of Alabama, Deb Fischer of Nebraska, John McCain of Arizona, John Boozman of Arkansas, Pat Roberts of Kansas, Rand Paul of Kentucky and Tom Coburn of Oklahoma.
To call risk corridors a “taxpayer bailout” is absurd.
Risk corridors redistribute funds from one insurer to another if one insurer over-bills their customers and another insurer under-bills them. In either case, Americans have paid a premium that they would have paid anyway, but a portion of the premium is diverted to compensate an insurer who set prices lower than they should have been under market conditions.
In other words, Republicans want to disable a mechanism that prevents your (the consumer) premium from going up and they’re floating the idea of blocking any bill that enables it.
They may shut the government down to increase your monthly bill. Because Obummer.
Voting to defund Obamacare worked so well the previous 54 times.