The Republican congressional leadership has made a new timetable for gutting the Affordable Care Act, aiming to get legislation done by March or possibly April.
But that doesn't give insurers much time to meet their first deadline for submitting plans for 2018 on the individual market, which includes the law's exchanges.
A rule published four days before President Trump took office set the deadlines for insurers to sell health plans on the individual market, which is for people who don't get insurance through their jobs. Democrats have charged that Republicans will throw the market into chaos by repealing the law without an alternative, with Republicans responding that the markets are already in turmoil.
Four House and Senate committees are drafting legislation that can be passed in the Senate via reconciliation, which lets a bill be passed with a 51-vote majority instead of 60 that breaks a filibuster. House Speaker Paul Ryan said last week he hopes to get the bill approved in the House by March or April.
However, even if the bill is done by March, that is close to the first deadline for putting together plans for the 2018 individual market.
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05.12.2024