Heidi Alexander: “I am here to talk about another issue that is also a real emergency. Later today, I will introduce, with other Senators…”

“I am here to talk about another issue that is also a real emergency. Later today, I will introduce, with other Senators, the State Flexibility to Provide Affordable Health Options Act. This bill addresses a real emergency. It provides immediate relief to families who use their ObamaCare subsidies to buy insurance on failing ObamaCare exchanges for the 2017 health care plan year. Here is an example. If you are a single mother in Memphis who gets an ObamaCare subsidy to buy health insurance for your family, you might have read that Tennessee's insurance commissioner says your rates may be more than 60 percent higher for the same health insurance policy for next year, 2017. You may be eligible for an ObamaCare subsidy. This could soften the blow of some premium increases, but there is also a good chance the insurance you currently have may be gone by this November, 2 months from now, when you sign up for your insurance for next year, 2017. You will have to figure out how to stretch your subsidy dollars as your options shrink. Maybe the new plan options don't include your doctor in their network so you will have to pay higher copays for your office visits. Maybe you need to buy a new plan altogether with new doctors. You can spend the new year trying to move all your records from your child's old doctor to your child's new doctor, if you can get an appointment.…”