Frank Pallone: “It disturbs me, I guess, that my colleague on the other side, whom I greatly respect, keeps mentioning this letter from…”

“It disturbs me, I guess, that my colleague on the other side, whom I greatly respect, keeps mentioning this letter from Seema Verma, the CMS Administrator. Nothing that she says in her letter is in any way going to change the guidance that she and the Trump administration have put forward that would undermine people with preexisting conditions' ability to get good insurance if this guidance is allowed to continue and States get waivers pursuant to the guidance, because of, again, the issue of affordability. You see, the problem is that the 1332 waivers, the way they are set out in the ACA, have certain guardrails, if you will, to prevent waivers that would allow for junk insurance and other policies that would undermine people with preexisting conditions from getting good insurance. Those guardrails say that any kind of waiver has to guarantee affordability, has to guarantee comprehensive coverage, the essential benefits package, robust coverage, and also not reduce the number of people who are insured. This guidance that Seema Verma and the Trump administration have put forward does exactly the opposite, because it allows insurance to be sold, if a State seeks to do so, that would eliminate, for example, hospitalization or eliminate mental health coverage or eliminate coverage for maternity care.…”