Cochran – Senate Should Act Health Care Law Transparency
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Citing “less than credible” information being issued by the Obama administration, U.S. Senator Thad Cochran (R-Miss.) today said the Senate should be allowed to debate and vote on legislation to require the administration to provide weekly reports on the Obamacare health insurance exchanges.
Cochran has cosponsored the Exchange Information Disclosure Act (S.1590), which would force greater transparency on the part of the administration regarding the operation and success of the federal government’s insurance exchanges. The exchanges, created by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act or Obamacare, and the enrollment reports have both been plagued with problems. The House of Representatives passed companion legislation (HR.3362) on Thursday.
“The American people deserve accurate information on how the Affordable Care Act, with is all its mandates, regulations and taxes, is affecting the health insurance market and, importantly, their own medical care and budgets,” Cochran said. “The administration’s reports thus far have proven less than credible, which only serves to deepen distrust in the administration. The Senate should take up and pass this legislation as soon as possible.”
The Exchange Information Disclosure Act would require the administration to provide Congress, states and the public with weekly reports of accurate and detailed data related to the utilization of the 36 federally-run health insurance exchanges, including the federally-run exchange in Mississippi.
Cochran has been critical of the administration’s enrollment numbers from the very beginning. Most recently, in the Weekly Republican Address he delivered last week, he cited as a cause for concern the lack of detailed information regarding how many enrollees lost their coverage because of the Affordable Care Act. Additionally, he questioned how many applicants have actually enrolled in a policy and then paid their premiums.
Cochran is the author of the Health Insurance Accountability Act (S.1894) to fully repeal Obamacare if, according to the Government Accountability Office (GAO), the number of uninsured at any point after Jan. 1, 2014, is greater than the number of uninsured at the time the law was enacted in March 2010.
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Sen. Thad Cochran
1/17
Magnolia Tribune
