Conservatives make push to block ObamaCare insurer ‘bailout’

A leading conservative group is launching a campaign blitz against what it calls a health insurer “bailout,” as ObamaCare allies seek new ways to protect the law this fall.

Freedom Partners announced Thursday it will release digital videos and hold meetings on Capitol Hill to urge lawmakers to block any attempts by the Obama administration or insurers to boost payments under the law.

“Lawmakers should resist pressure to bail out Obamacare and the big insurance companies that supported its passage when they thought it would be a good deal for themselves,” the group’s senior policy adviser, Nathan Nascimento, wrote in a statement Wednesday.

Conservatives say President Obama and ObamaCare insurers are quietly trying to cement the legacy of his healthcare law by extending the life of a pair of funding programs for insurance companies.

Health insurer groups, including America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), have denied that they’re trying to extend the programs — either reinsurance or risk corridors — that end this year. A spokesperson for AHIP said companies have already proposed premiums for the next year assuming there will be no extension.

But insurer lobbyists have pitched the idea of an extension of the reinsurance program in small meetings with at least one House Republican this fall, according to a staff member in that office.

Both reinsurance and risk corridors, which expire in 2017, are designed to help cushion insurers from heavy losses in the early years of ObamaCare.

Several health experts have said that extending the program could help ensure the viability of the ObamaCare marketplace, though no company or administration official has publicly endorsed the idea.

Several Republicans have introduced a bill targeting the reinsurance program, which they say has been propped up with taxpayer money. The bill, from Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) and Rep. Mark Walker (R-N.C.), has been heralded both by Freedom Partners and the conservative Heritage Action for America group.

The reinsurance program is entirely funded by money from private insurers, though ObamaCare’s struggling marketplace in the first three years has resulted in a funding shortfall.

Republicans in Congress, led by Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), enacted a provision two years ago to limit payments under risk corridors, which has meant many insurers have not been paid in full.

Several insurers have sued the administration for funds they are owed under the risk corridors program.

The administration is now hinting that there are discussions underway about a possible settlement with insurance companies, which Republicans say could allow ObamaCare officials to skirt Congress’s prohibition.