The CEOs of five major health insurance companies, including UnitedHealth Group, CVS Health, and Cigna, are set to testify before two House committees on Thursday, facing questions about rising healthcare costs. The hearings come after Republicans allowed enhanced Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies to expire, leading to sharp premium increases for millions of Americans. Despite the urgency of the issue, Congress has few immediate plans to address the lapse in tax credits, and the odds of passing a bill to lower premiums anytime soon are slim.
The hearings are expected to focus on the “root causes” of higher healthcare prices, with Republicans blaming the ACA for driving up costs. However, experts argue that the expired enhanced ACA tax credit is the main culprit behind the current affordability crisis. Gideon Lukens, a senior fellow at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, said that the ACA fixed issues around coverage for people with pre-existing conditions and made the insurance market “functional and stable.”
Insurers, on the other hand, argue that premium hikes reflect rising costs elsewhere in the healthcare system, particularly hospital and prescription drug costs. Stephen Hemsley, CEO of UnitedHealth Group, plans to tell lawmakers that insurers “compete aggressively” to keep premiums affordable, but the cost is largely determined by the broader healthcare system. David Joyner, CEO of CVS Health, said that the company helps families struggling with the rising cost of healthcare, driven by factors such as greater demand for care, growing medical provider costs, and high prices for hospital care and prescription drugs.
The hearings are seen as an attempt by Republicans to shift blame for rising healthcare costs away from their own policies and onto the insurance companies. President Donald Trump has also rolled out a healthcare plan that includes redirecting funding for ACA subsidies into health savings accounts, but the plan has drawn criticism for lacking details and restating previous ideas. With the Senate out this week and the House set to go into recess next week, it is unlikely that any meaningful legislation will be passed to address the issue of rising healthcare costs.