Panetta applauds analysis of bipartisan healthcare update

CONGRESSMAN JIMMY Panetta this week lauded the Congressional Budget Office's review of a bipartisan Senate healthcare bill, which analysts estimated would reduce the federal deficit by nearly $4 billion over the next decade without substantially changing the number of people who are covered under Obamacare.

The nonpartisan agency on Wednesday released its analysis of the Bipartisan Health Care Stabilization Act of 2017, which supporters contend would stabilize the market by allowing for cost-sharing reduction subsidies, which use money from taxpayers to make healthcare cheaper for poor Americans, and expand eligibility for "catastrophic" coverage.

While President Donald Trump and many Republicans in the House oppose the plan, Panetta said he was pleased with the outcome of the CBO review of the proposal, which he maintained would bring "certainty" to the individual healthcare market, safeguard insurance for millions of families and offer additional options for states and individuals "to address their healthcare needs."

"Our number one goal was to have the cost-sharing reductions" for low-income enrollees, Panetta told The Pine Cone by phone Wednesday afternoon from his Washington D.C. office.

Without subsidies, higher costs for some

U.S. taxpayers provide billions of dollars in subsidies to insurers to offset costs in discounted copays and premiums they are required to offer low-income customers. The subsidies, which Trump ended this month, would resume until 2019, according to the bipartisan healthcare bill.

Without the subsidies, insurance companies would raise premiums on those who have to pay for their own healthcare — charging them more than the care costs, so others can payless. The bill would also allow anyone — not just those under 30 as the law currently permits — to purchase so-called catastrophic plans, which offer low premiums but very high deductibles.

Although the health proposal was introduced by Republican Sen. Lamar Alexander and Democratic Sen. Patty Murray, core elements of the bill reflect elements drafted by the Problem Solvers Caucus, a group of composed of both parties formed earlier this year to tackle particularly partisan issues.

Panetta, a member of the caucus, talked to The Pine Cone in July just as the relatively new group — co-led by New Jersey Congressman Josh Gottheimer, one of Panetta's roommates in Washington D.C., — had begun delving into healthcare following the Senate's failure that month to unwind parts of the Affordable Care Act.

Panetta said this week that the bill takes steps to toward "strengthening" the ACA and providing "financial relief to [low-income] residents on the Central Coast." Portions of the healthcare compromise, he explained, were shaped by the caucus' work with senators.

Panetta urged the House and Senate to approve the bill, which is facing resistance from the GOP.

Last weekend, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said he would consider bringing the bill to a vote but was waiting for a signal from Trump to proceed.

Whether this version of the legislation goes through, Panetta said the caucus — and the Murray-Alexander Bill — demonstrate that both parties are indeed collaborating together on Capitol Hill, despite regular news reports to the contrary.

"The important thing is that in July, when the skinny repeal [of Obamacare] failed, you had 23 Democrats and 23 Republicans in the House to take it upon themselves to come up with these principles that demonstrated leadership, and show that there are areas where we can agree upon," he said.