Carper Cosponsors Alexander-Murray Bill to Lower Health Care Costs

WASHINGTON—Today, U.S. Senator Tom Carper (D-Del.) joined 23 Republican and Democratic senators to introduce legislation authored by Senators Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and Patty Murray (R-Wash.), chairman and ranking member of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, that would stabilize the individual insurance markets and lower the costs of insurance premiums.

“We’ve heard an enormous outcry from millions of Americans across the country, including the hundreds of Delawareans I’ve spoken to up and down the state, urging Democrats and Republicans to work together and provide better health care at a lower cost to every American,” Senator Carper said. “This bipartisan bill is the product of earnest negotiations between Senators Alexander and Murray, and it reflects input from governors, state insurance commissioners, insurers, health care providers, patients and other stakeholders. This bill will stabilize the individual insurance market, paving a way to lower health insurance premiums and out of pocket costs for the millions of Americans struggling with the rising price of their care. To be clear, this bill is not a political triumph—but it is a win for working together and creating a path forward on an incredibly important issue that impacts every corner of our country and our economy. I urge Congressional leadership to get to work on this bill and help us score a victory for the American people.”

“We have reached an agreement on bipartisan legislation that will extend cost-sharing reduction payments during 2018 and 2019, protect consumers facing higher premiums this year, and give states meaningful flexibility to create greater choices among health insurance policies in the individual health insurance market,” Senators Alexander and Murray said. “The goal of this bipartisan legislation is to stabilize and then lower the cost of health insurance premiums and ensure that Americans are able to purchase health insurance in the individual health insurance market. This legislation is based upon witness testimony from four bipartisan hearings that the Senate health committee held last month.”

In addition to Senators Carper, Alexander and Murray, the legislation was cosponsored by Republican Senators Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), John McCain (R-Ariz.), Bill Cassidy (R-La.), Susan Collins (R-Maine), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), Johnny Isakson (R-Georgia), Richard Burr (R-N.C.), and Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), and Democratic Senators Angus King (I-Maine), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Joe Donnelly (D-Ind.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.), Al Franken (D-Minn.), Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), and Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.).

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