WASHINGTON — Alaska Gov. Bill Walker announced his support for a bipartisan Senate health care bill introduced this week, joining nine other governors in a letter to congressional leaders late Wednesday.
Walker, an independent, and the bipartisan group of governors urged congressional leadership to give the so-called Alexander-Murray bill a vote and to work toward a solution that will "stabilize our private health insurance markets and make quality health insurance more available and affordable."
"Senators (Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn.) and (Patty Murray, D-Wash.) have negotiated in good faith and developed a bipartisan agreement that will help achieve these goals," the letter said. "Their legislation deserves a vote by the House and Senate."
Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski plans to co-sponsor the legislation and, as a member of the Senate's health committee, held a role in negotiating the bill.
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The governors raised concerns about the likely impacts of President Donald Trump's decision to cut off Cost Sharing Reduction subsidy payments to insurance companies. The move was expected to boost premium costs for consumers on the individual markets who do not receive subsidies and drive up the national debt by nearly $200 billion, they said.
"The timing of the termination – days before open enrollment begins – is sowing confusion among consumers and leaving states scrambling to develop solutions to stabilize their insurance markets," the letter said.
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The governors urged Congress to fund the subsidy payments through 2019, as the Alexander-Murray bill does.
Other governors who signed the letter are John Kasich, R-Ohio; John Hickenlooper, D-Colo.; Steve Bullock, D-Mont.; Tom Wolf, D-Penn.; Brian Sandoval, R-Nev.; Terry McAuliffe, D-Va.; John Bel Edwards, D-La.; Charlie Baker, R-Mass.; and Phil Scott, R-Vt.