Iowa Republican U.S. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks introduced a bill on Saturday that would enact House Republicans’ health policy agenda aimed at reducing health insurance premiums. However, the changes are not expected to take effect until 2027, which leaves those seeking Affordable Care Act plans for 2026 with skyrocketing premiums.
The bill would lower premiums by expanding employer-based coverage options, increasing flexibility for employers and workers, and increasing transparency in prescription drug pricing.
The bill also reappropriates federal dollars to go toward the cost-sharing reductions in the ACA, which are required for individuals between 100 and 200 percent of the federal poverty level. Federal dollars had subsidized the deductible reduction until 2016, when House Republicans sued to end the program since it wasn’t appropriated by Congress.
The mandated cost-sharing reduction, without the federal funds, caused insurance companies to raise premiums on their lowest cost plans for low-income enrollees, which resulted in increased premium prices across the marketplace.
“Simply put, this bill puts patients and their doctors over the profits of insurance companies,” Miller-Meeks said during a Monday call with reporters. “It’s long overdue, and it’s the kind of health care reform that the American people have been waiting for and actually gets at lowering premiums and lowering health care costs.”
However, the effects of this provision will not take effect until 2027, leaving those purchasing insurance through the marketplace facing premiums that are two to three times more expensive than they were last year, according to KFF a health policy research organization.
The bill also does not extend the enhanced tax credits that are set to expire at the end of the year. Miller-Meeks continues to oppose extending the subsidies.
“The Democrat solution is to continue writing taxpayer-funded blank checks to large insurance companies,” Miller-Meeks said. “It hides the fact that premiums are going up by shifting who pays for those increases in premiums rather than getting to the root cause of actually lowering health care costs.”
According to the Paragon Health Institute, a conservative-leaning health policy think tank, it estimates that the cost-sharing reductions in the bill could reduce premium prices by $900 nationally and $721 in Iowa. A Congressional Budget Office estimate on the bill has been requested, according to Miller-Meeks’ office.
Miller-Meeks said the bill’s regulations on pharmacy benefit managers — or the companies that negotiate drug prices, which policymakers say are behind high drug prices — will get at the root cause of high premiums, not just for those getting their plans through the ACA, but all Americans.
“We’re also delivering real accountability and prescription drug pricing by requiring pharmacy benefit managers to disclose hidden fees, rebates, and the rebate schemes that drive up costs,” Miller-Meeks said.