On Friday’s broadcast of C-SPAN’s “Ceasefire,” Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE) stated that the large spike in Affordable Care Act premiums is partially because “the Affordable Care Act is the insurance of last resort and the pool of people who are the sickest and most desperately need preventive care and health care” and waste, fraud, and abuse are also a factor in the premium increase.
Sen. James Lankford (R-OK) said, “[I]n my state, again, in six years, the Affordable Care Act premiums have gone up 200%. The commercial rates have gone up 29%. There’s clearly a problem there that we’ve got to be able to figure out.”
Coons responded, “And we have a different view about what’s driving that, whether it is that the Affordable Care Act is the insurance of last resort and the pool of people who are the sickest and most desperately need preventive care and health care, or whether it’s because it’s riddled with waste, fraud, and abuse. The truth has an element of both, and Democrats are willing to work in good faith to improve program integrity. But we need a partnership that says we will continue these tax subsidies that help make it affordable.”
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