Across the country. Well start with shoons commissioners from oklahoma, washington, tennessee and alaska. The Senate Committee on Health Education and pensions will please come to ord order. In the individual Health Insurance market for 2018. We have five state Insurance Commissioners. Thank you for coming from long distances some of you to be with us to give your testimony on how to help the 18 million americans in the individual Insurance Market. To give a idea of how many people are interested in this, snar murray and i invited senators who were not on our committee, which has about a quarter of the senate is on this committee, to come to a coffee with the five commissioners that weve just completed for a hour. We had 31 senators there. So thats remarkable level of interest. Senator murray and i will have a Opening Statement then introduce our five witnesses. After their testimony, senators will have a opportunity to ask witnesses questions and well do it in five minute rounds. So a
Testimony by state Insurance Commissioners and governors from across the country. Well start with shoons commissioners from oklahoma, washington, tennessee and alaska. The Senate Committee on Health Education and pensions will please come to ord order. In the individual Health Insurance market for 2018. We have five state Insurance Commissioners. Thank you for coming from long distances some of you to be with us to give your testimony on how to help the 18 million americans in the individual Insurance Market. To give a idea of how many people are interested in this, snar murray and i invited senators who were not on our committee, which has about a quarter of the senate is on this committee, to come to a coffee with the five commissioners that weve just completed for a hour. We had 31 senators there. So thats remarkable level of interest. Senator murray and i will have a Opening Statement then introduce our five witnesses. After their testimony, senators will have a opportunity to ask
We are holding our first hearing on stabilizing premiums and ensuring access to into intervals Health Insurance market for 2018. We have five state Insurance Commissioners. Thank you for coming from long distances to be with us to give your testimony on how to help the 18 million americans in individual Insurance Market. Manyve an idea of how people are interested in this, we invited senators who were not on our committee, which is about a quarter of the senate on this committee to come to a coffee with commissioners that we have completed for an hour and 31 senators were there. That is a remarkable level of we will have an Opening Statement and we will introduce the five witnesses. Ask questionskend in fiveminute rounds. This committee includes 23 United States senators. It includes senators with the whitest diversions of abuse. It has a republican majority of only one. Working together during the last two years, we have been able to agree on big steps, big issues, about which we have
Consider friends and to i know to be problesolvers. My request this mmtee this morning is that you do two things. You quickly stabilizthe individual Insurance Market place. And that you undertake a serious effort to Work Together to address the cost of health care. Ande are good times tennessee. R Unemployment Rate is the lowest in history. We became the first state in the nation to offer free clearly college or Technical Schools to all of our citen our efforts per capita are ang the lowest in the country. The crisis of health care and the certainty of its future threatens our atcitize and the ste budget. The primary diffence between and whenennessee now are very young governor led the state more than 30 years ago is that impact the cost of health care has on everything we do. With onlyfinds itself three insurance carriers, offering a ca compliant coverage. In more than 80 percent of counties, citizens have only one insurance option. These limited options provide aubstantialwith cost i
Labor and pensions will come to order this morning. We are holding our third of for hearings on stabilizing the cost of premiums and ensuring americans are able to purchase insurance in the individual Insurance Market in 2018. This is the market were 6 of insured americans, that is 80 Million People by their insurance. Those who dont get insurance through medicaid while on the job. For the past fee years, the cost of premiums in the individual market copays deductibles up and skyrocketing in many states. Half of these 18 million americans have government subsidies to cushion the blow of the rising prices. Many of those who find themselves in the other half are being priced out of the Insurance Market that they simply cannot afford. That is why these hearings have a narrow objective. Congress and the president do between now and the limit the month to help premium increases in 2018 and lower premiums after that. We heard in our hearings last week that there was also a danger that if we