Senate holds hearing on state flexibility in individual insurance market

The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee today held a hearing on state flexibility in the individual health insurance market, the third in a series of bipartisan hearings aimed at producing legislation to stabilize the individual health insurance market. Witnesses included former Health and Human Services Secretary and Utah Gov. Mike Leavitt, Kaiser Foundation Hospitals and Health Plan Chairman and CEO Bernard Tyson, and representatives from the Minnesota health insurance exchange, Foundation for Government Accountability and Oliver Wyman consulting firm. Committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-TN) said any compromise for a stability bill including cost-sharing reductions must also include flexibility for states. Ranking Member Patty Murray (D-WA) emphasized the need to fund CSRs. She said she would seriously consider ideas for state flexibility but reject any effort to erode “guardrails and protections” for patients.