Now that the Senate Republican health care bill has collapsed, the next step may be to vote on an outright repeal -- though that plan also faces political hurdles. But were the repeal to happen, it could have serious consequences for state residents.
About 300,000 Connecticut residents got health insurance under the Obama-era Affordable Care Act -- 200,000 through an expanded Medicaid program, and another 100,000 through the state’s private exchange.
A full repeal could leave them all without insurance coverage. It could also affect children under 26 who are covered by their parents plans, and it could make it harder to get insurance with a pre-existing condition.
But even as leading Republican lawmakers threaten an outright repeal, others are saying they won’t support it.
All of which makes for an unsettling situation for Jim Wadleigh. He runs the state’s insurance marketplace under Obamacare. At the moment he’s staying focused on the exchange until he hears otherwise.
“Our entire delegation are very supportive of the Affordable Care Act and making sure that there are health plan choices for both Medicaid and the private insurance industry in Connecticut,” Wadleigh said. “We’ll see what happens in the near future, but all hope is not lost.”
Wadleigh said they’re getting ready for open enrollment for 2018, and are hoping to keep insurance carriers on the exchange as regulators consider their requests for rate increases.
Open enrollment on the exchange begins November 1.
