Ayotte Helps Introduce Bill to Expand Health Insurance Choices for NH

U.S. Senator Kelly Ayotte, along with Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions Committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and others, yesterday helped introduce the State Flexibility to Provide Affordable Health Options Act. Their legislation would allow eligible people the flexibility and choice to use the ObamaCare subsidies to purchase plans outside of the ObamaCare exchanges - expanding their health insurance options.

"More than 11,000 people in my home state recently learned that they would have to find a new health care plan after an insurer announced that it would be leaving the New Hampshire partnership exchange next year. Higher premiums and fewer choices are impacting real people today, and hardworking Granite Staters can't afford to keep taking these hits," said Senator Ayotte. "Our legislation would provide a temporary means to lessen the burdens of ObamaCare on New Hampshire families and individuals by allowing eligible individuals to use a subsidy to purchase health insurance outside of the exchanges, which may offer less expensive options than plans available through the exchanges. This bill will help bring back some much-needed flexibility and choice in the health insurance marketplace, both of which ObamaCare has limited."

Senators Ayotte and Alexander were joined by Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI), John Barrasso (R-WY), Thad Cochran (R-MS), David Perdue (R-GA), Rob Portman (R-OH), and Mark Kirk (R-IL). Their legislation would:

* Give states the authority to allow residents to use their Obamacare subsidy to purchase any health insurance plan of their choice, even those off the exchange, for the 2017 plan year.

* If the state chooses to use this authority to allow residents to use subsidies outside of the exchange, the legislation will waive the Obamacare law's requirement that an individual purchase a specific health care plan or pay a fine of as much as $2,000 for a family of four next year.

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