Letter to the Editor: Stabilize market rates

Cancer patients could be forced into high-risk pools. Women could be charged more than men and maternity coverage would need to be purchased separately. Mental health and addiction treatment would likely not be covered.

You would have Paul Ryan's promised freedom to buy only the insurance you want. Younger and healthier employees could buy less expensive insurance or go uninsured. Older workers and people with pre-existing conditions would face much higher premiums, but could choose to be uninsured or underinsured. I doubt that people would like to see these supposed “freedoms” in their employer’s health plans. Neither will people covered by AHCA plans.

To win over the Freedom Caucus members' votes needed to pass the AHCA, Republicans are now proposing to eliminate insurance reforms included in the ACA. Rep. Walden introduced H.R 1121, the Pre-Existing Conditions Protection Act, to guard against changes now being seriously considered.

The changes being asked for by the Freedom Caucus make a mockery of past promises by President Trump to protect people with pre-existing conditions.

For Walden to break his repeated promise to protect people with pre-existing conditions to win passage of a bill that would cause millions to lose insurance while giving a huge tax break to the wealthy is simply unacceptable.

When Walden returns to Washington, he needs to step away from the AHCA bill and start working to stabilize rural markets by ending uncertainty over funding for Cost Sharing Reductions (CSRs) needed to stabilize rates and keep insurers in the market.

Richard Davis

The Dalles