Connecticut Lt. Gov. Nancy Wyman, who also serves as chair of the board of the state”™s health exchange Access Health CT, has issued a statement reassuring residents that the exchange remains open for business.
The remarks came in the wake of the election of Donald Trump to the presidency. Throughout the campaign, Trump indicated that he planned to repeal the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, and replace it with a yet-to-be-defined health care plan.
“I will ask Congress to convene a special session so we can repeal and replace,” Trump said at a Nov. 1 campaign rally in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania.
“I want to reassure Connecticut consumers that Access Health CT will continue to be a vital link, connecting them to high-quality, affordable health insurance,” Wyman said of the exchange, whose open enrollment period began on Nov. 1. and runs through Jan. 31, 2017.
With more than 800,000 residents using the exchange to find coverage, Wyman said, “During this open enrollment period, just as we”™ve done before, Access Health CT stands ready to assist consumers in finding and enrolling in the health care plan that best meets their needs.
“If there are any changes in the federal ACA, we will address them ”” and, as always, the priority will continue to be ensuring affordable, accessible, high-quality healthcare for our residents,” Wyman said.
Fully repealing the ACA is easier said than done. Such a move would require the votes of 60 U.S. senators. Assuming the Senate votes along party lines, the Republican Party will have either 51 or 52 votes depending upon the results of a runoff in Louisiana. The runoff between Democrat Foster Campbell and Republican John Kennedy will be held on Dec. 10.
Connecticut”™s two Democratic senators, Chris Murphy and newly re-elected Richard Blumenthal, support the ACA, although the latter has said he sees room for improvement.
A partial repeal of Obamacare seems more likely, though what it would be replaced with remains to be seen. In a September 2015 “60 Minutes” interview, Trump said, “I would make a deal with existing hospitals to take care of people ”¦ the government”™s gonna pay for it.
“For the most it”™s going to be a private plan,” he continued, “and people are going to be able to go out and negotiate great plans with lots of different competition with lots of competitors with great companies and they can have their doctors, they can have plans, they can have everything.”
