Centene Will Expand Health Insurance Plans to Missouri—McCaskill Statement
WASHINGTON – Following today’s announcement that Centene will expand its Affordable Care Act exchange plans into Missouri, U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill, who has introduced legislation aiming to protect access to health insurance for Missourians on the individual insurance market, released the following statement:
“This announcement is great news for many Missourians who’ll now have more choices for health insurance. But Centene’s news continues to underscore the uncertainty in our insurance markets, something that’s just unacceptable for folks in my state. And something that my legislation—which would let Missourians who don’t have access to a local provider get the same plans that Congress gets—would go a long way to address.”
It was reported today that “Health insurer Centene Corp. plans a broad expansion of its Obamacare offerings next year at a time when many of its big rivals are retreating from the program.”
Last month, McCaskill introduced legislation aiming to protect access to health insurance for Missourians on the individual insurance market amid reports of insurers withdrawing from those markets. The legislation would allow individuals in “bare counties”—counties with no insurers participating in the individual insurance marketplaces—access to the same insurance plans offered to members of Congress and Congressional staff.
The legislation would ensure that individuals in counties with no insurance options on the individual Marketplace have access to insurance through “DC Health Link” where most members of Congress and Congressional staff purchase insurance. While Congress previously obtained health insurance through Federal Employee Health Benefits (FEHB) as other federal employees do, the Affordable Care Act required Congress to leave FEHB and purchase insurance on the new law’s individual market.
Most of Congress now uses DC Health Link, while McCaskill instead forfeits her employer contribution to purchase her insurance on Healthcare.gov, the federal Marketplace used by Missourians on the individual market.
McCaskill’s new bill is her latest action to address problems the Affordable Care Act. Previously, she helped repeal burdensome reporting requirements on small businesses, introduced bipartisan legislation to address a provision leading to problematic Medicare reimbursements to hospitals, backed a plan to increase healthcare flexibility for small employers, and to address how the law defines small group markets, and backed legislation improving healthcare options for pregnant women.
Visit mccaskill.senate.gov/healthcare to learn more about McCaskill’s work to improve healthcare for Missourians.
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