El Paso Health Insurance customers, will have to wait to see what comes from newest version of healthcare and if it will or will not be voted on in 2017.
El Paso Health Insurance may be in limbo after key lawmakers once again failed to come to an agreement regarding the reform and repeal of the Affordable Care Act. Now the House and Senate are under a tight deadline and are being asked to rush the deliberation process to meet a Saturday deadline.
Several lawmakers suggested allowing passage with just a simple majority. That idea frustrated some senators, who had more problems with the process than with the substance. Some top elected officials openly declared they are still against the bill on Friday.
Monday afternoon, leaders held the first and only hearing on the legislation in a failed effort to appease critics. Instead, several highly passionate activists attended who expressed their concerns about Health Insurance being stripped from El Paso.
Dozens of protestors, many who were in wheel chairs, filled the hallways outside the meeting. The lines extended around the corner of the building and reached the length of an entire city block.
Attendees chanted the word “Shame” as elected officials entered the committee chamber to testify. Protesters were so loud inside the hearing room, the proceedings had to be delayed, which only antagonized everyone involved. The committee chairman slammed his gavel, begging for silence and order, but protestors loud yelling overshadowed any order in the proceedings.
Police had to drag many disabled activists one by one from the building. The show of force shocked the public, particularly because so many protestors were taken out kicking and screaming in their wheelchairs. Police stated that 181 people were arrested at the demonstration on Monday night.
When the hearing was finally to begin, detractors continued their chanting in the hallway outside, and despite for repeated calls for order, their voices were clearly heard through the doors.
El Paso Health Insurance Agents believe the bill would have negative consequences on the public, consumers and patients by cutting Medicaid, destroying the individual market; ignoring the plea for funding in situations where preexisting conditions exist; continuing taxes on health insurance premiums and benefits; and possibly allowing single-payer, government-controlled health care to grow rather than stabilize.
Party leaders said that not only are insurers upset with the latest version of the bill, but top lobbyists for hospitals and doctors are also unsatisfied with the latest draft.
Patient advocacy groups for Health Insurance El Paso are convinced the bill would decrease overall health funding while insurers would be given full permission to treat customers differently based on a pre-existing conditions. The current Affordable Health Care Act banned discrimination based on pre-existing conditions, yet without those safeguards in place, El Paso Healthcare customers could suffer.
Under questioning from House and Senate members, proponents of the new bill insist the new draft of the bill will protect consumers and the prior assessments were wrong, claiming that states could charge higher premiums based on their health status under this new bill.
As written, the bill would allow individual states to waive the current Affordable Health Care Act rule that prevents insurers from charging sick people more for care. Bill authors also promise that the latest version will adequately cover certain essential benefits. According to outside analysts, that is not true. They claim current protection for pre-existing conditions will be dramatically weakened if this bill is passed.
In an attempt to get everyone on board, certain regulations on insurance coverage were loosened, according to some experts.
After calling Obamacare a “disaster,” Senate and House leaders claim that because insurance companies oppose the bill, increased legislation would give more flexibility to individual states.
In the end, El Paso Health Insurance customers, agents and the public at large will have to wait and see what comes from this latest version of the bill, and if it will or will not be voted on in 2017.
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