Ryan suggests room for bipartisanship on ObamaCare

House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) said Friday there might be an opportunity for a bipartisan deal to shore up ObamaCare’s insurance markets. 

Ryan expressed optimism that Congress could pass a bill similar to one sponsored by Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Bill Nelson (D-Fla.)

{mosads}The bill would provide billions of dollars to states to help establish high-risk pools or reinsurance programs, mechanisms that help cover the costs of expensive patients. 

“I’ve talked to Susan Collins and Democrats about this. I think there might be a bipartisan opportunity there to get risk pools, risk mechanisms — in Maine, they do risk sharing. In Alaska, Wyoming, I think it is, they do reinsurance … It’s basically different ways of saying, let’s all agree a person with a catastrophic illness shouldn’t go bankrupt if they get sick,” Ryan said at an event in Wisconsin.

He noted that Wisconsin had a successful high-risk pool before ObamaCare was implemented. 

“It worked really well here in the state … I’m still hopeful we can get that back together this year for all states,” he said. 

It’s not clear how the bill would be passed, though Collins had been pushing for it to be added to a long-term spending bill.  

Ryan did not mention Alexander-Murray, however, another bill being pushed by Collins that would fund key ObamaCare insurer payments, sponsored by Sens. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and Patty Murray (D-Wash.). 

Some Republicans have been critical of the payments, calling them a bail-out for insurance companies.