WASHINGTON – U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine (both D-VA) issued this joint statement following an announcement by Anthem that it will re-enter 63 counties or cities in Virginia where consumers  otherwise would be left without any insurance options in the 2018 Affordable Care Act exchanges. Both senators were engaged in efforts to resolve this challenge prior to today’s deadline for notifying the Bureau of Insurance at the State Corporation Commission.    

“We are glad Anthem is re-entering the Virginia individual health care exchange to provide thousands of Virginia consumers with coverage in places where they might have had none. This is welcome news for Virginians in rural communities, who have been hit particularly hard by health care uncertainty. It's time for the Trump Administration to stop their efforts to sabotage and destabilize the markets, which resulted in fewer choices and higher premiums for 2018.  We will continue to work in Congress with colleagues regardless of party to fix the existing Affordable Care Act to ensure a stable market, lower costs, and improve coverage.”

 The Senate HELP Committee has been holding bipartisan hearings this month on measures to stabilize the health insurance market, including proposals like Kaine’s bill to help stabilize the individual health care marketplace and lower premiums through reinsurance. On Thursday, he called on insurers like Anthem to stop depriving people in rural Virginia of opportunities by limiting coverage options or pulling out of the individual markets. State health insurance commissioners and health care experts have expressed support for reinsurance as a way to increase certainty in the marketplace.

Senator Warner sits on the Senate Finance Committee, which is holding hearings on expanding consumer options and making health care coverage more affordable for American families. Senator Warner has offered several commonsense proposals to increase competition in the health care marketplace, lower health care costs, and make the Affordable Care Act work better for more Virginians.

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