Congresswoman Kristi Noem’s Weekly Column: A Different Future for Healthcare

Pat Powers

noem press headerkristi noem headshot May 21 2014A Different Future for Healthcare
By Rep. Kristi Noem

It’s no wonder why more than half of Americans oppose Obamacare.  Week after week, I talk with South Dakotans who are seeing their health insurance premiums increase by hundreds, sometimes thousands, of dollars per year.  Despite the cost hikes, many are also finding that the 2017 options have larger deductibles, which often translates into higher out-of-pocket expenses too.  Like I said, it’s no wonder. 

Today, we are in the middle of the fourth annual open enrollment period for Obamacare.  Absent a major life event, this is the only time you have to obtain or change health insurance without facing a tax penalty. 

For many South Dakotans returning to healthcare.gov this year, the numbers are pretty shocking.  While the nation as a whole has seen a nearly 25 percent increase in the cost of health insurance premiums for 2017, a 27-year-old nonsmoker purchasing a middle tier plan in South Dakota will face a 39 percent price increase.  That kind of cost surge has the potential to fundamentally alter a person’s annual budget. 

Additionally, some will find fewer options.  For 2017 coverage, around one in five Americans will have only one insurer to choose from, a significant change from last year when just 2 percent of Americans were in the same boat.  Insurers simply can’t afford to be involved in the individual marketplace.

Earlier this year, we learned one insurer operating in South Dakota lost nearly $100 million over the last two years on individual Obamacare plans in Iowa and South Dakota alone.  As a result, they made the decision to no longer offer these plans in 2017 – a decision that impacted nearly 8,000 South Dakotans. 

Many have felt the pain of Obamacare and calls for the law’s repeal have only grown.  While around a dozen minor Obamacare repeals and reforms have been signed into law, this legislation is ultimately beyond repair. 

It was widely understood that President Obama would not sign legislation repealing his healthcare law.  Still, we put the option on his desk; he chose to veto it.

At the start of next year, however, I’m very hopeful Obamacare’s repeal will finally become a reality, as it now sits not only at the top of Congress’ agenda, but at the top of the incoming administration’s agenda. 

Alongside Obamacare repeal efforts, we’ve been working on conservative legislation to replace the healthcare law with a patient-centered approach.  More specifically, our plan would allow individuals to purchase insurance across state lines.  The policy would help ensure you’d have more coverage options while also introducing greater competition into the marketplace to drive down prices. 

Another idea would allow small businesses and individuals to band together through new pooling opportunities.  That increases your purchasing power and would give groups more leverage to negotiate with insurers for lower prices.

Other components of our proposal would increase support for wellness programs, protect patients with pre-existing conditions, and allow young people to stay on their parents’ plan until they turn 26. 

Every American deserves access to quality, affordable healthcare, but experience shows that’s not what Obamacare offers.  We need to give people more choices, not more mandates, and we need to make sure you have the freedom and flexibility to find a plan that’s going to work with your family’s budget and needs.  That’s our vision, and step one in accomplishing it: Repeal Obamacare. 

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15 thoughts on “Congresswoman Kristi Noem’s Weekly Column: A Different Future for Healthcare”

    1. the AP is a proven political player. the obvious spin of this massaging of data is to miscast the trends to give the appearance that the trump voters are having buyers remorse now. THIS IS THE PROBLEM, not trump. we are screwed until such time as massive international news agencies stop whoring for their chosen political party.

  2. Only 1 in 4 want a complete repeal. Doesn’t preclude repeal/replace where those items Trump-Pence-Ryan have said would be included in replacement (notably pre-existing condition and portability which were most popular features).

  3. “Week after week, I talk with South Dakotans who are seeing their health insurance premiums increase by hundreds, sometimes thousands, of dollars per year.”—- Are they in the 11 million enrolled in the ACA? These folks seem to think every insured person is using the ACA,not at all true, nobody is forced to use it.. The number I have seen 5.5 million of those enrolled are supporters of Trump, if they are whining now you ain’t heard nothin yet if ACA is repealed and those folks have to start paying for private coverage.. These people also never mention the cost of insurance before the ACA and how it was mush rooming. Are those 5.5 million folks too dumb to know they will be paying for insurance not at prices of 5 years ago but whatever the prices are today?—– Trump promised to end Obamacare his first day. Did he lie? Of course, he cannot do that., if he could he would be eaten alive by his supporter that would be hit the hardest and too dumb to know it.

    1. what makes obamacare obamacare is OBAMA. while he is POTUS, the huge flawed monstrosity which slops over into education, housing, banking, etc. can’t be altered because vetos can’t be overridden. by merely winning the election, trump has made the end of obamacare a certainty because it will be changed substantially by congress and trump together.

  4. “At the start of next year, however, I’m very hopeful Obamacare’s repeal will finally become a reality,”–I hope you get your wish- You people have had years to come up with another plan……………….you have nothing—- BTW — In case the lady hasn’t heard, she and her buddies have been thrown under the bus by their “glorious leader” already….They are talking repeal and “glorious leader” has backtracked on the ACA just like he has on immigration, the wall, deportations, persecuting Clinton, the Iran deal etc…….Are they feeling like gullible suckers yet….?

  5. In case Jaa Dee has forgotten the promises made with regard to Obamacare, most of the nation has not. And he made these lies deliberately. And of course Pelosi saying you have to pass it to see what is in it. When it was passed by hook and crook, it was nothing more than a framework of a house, with the rest all to be filled in later by the HHS secretary and her minions. It has not lived up to its promises. It will bankrupt the nation. It has caused hardships for those not on Obamacare in higher prices and less access and choices. But keep it up, Jaa Dee, tout it’s wonderfulness. I can’t help rejoicing in the fact that this mainstay of Obama’s legacy will be dismantled and he will go down as the worse president in the history of the US. I think that anyone who is enthralled with Obamacare should get their care through the VA system or IHS and see how government healthcare truly works.

    1. Can you dispute anything I said?

      T.J.– Trump said many times he was going to “repeal” Obamacare his first day—Did he lie?

      ” Lewandowski complained that reporters erred by reporting on what actually Trump said at his events. “This is the problem with the media,” he said, when discussing the proposed Muslim ban. “You guys took everything that Donald Trump said so literally! The American people didn’t. They understood it. They understood that sometimes — when you have a conversation with people, whether it’s around the dinner table or at a bar — you’re going to say things, and sometimes you don’t have all the facts to back it up.”

    2. ” most of the nation”?– I in 4… Are you going to respond to my request on the other thread or just pretend nobody saw it?

    1. Great idea, Medicare For All. Proposed by somebody who can’t possibly be already enrolled in it.
      That “free checkup” you get every year consists of your weight and blood pressure. You want to see a doctor? You want lab work? That’s not included.
      If Medicare were of any use at all there would not be such a market for Medicare Supplement plans. It’s a given that if you are on Medicare you need to buy a supplemental plan. Those ads are on TV all the time, haven’t you ever wondered why?

  7. the obvious solution is the reestablishing of free market competition, but no in-state monopolies by halting sales at the borders. multistate pools will lower rates, and the governments can cooperate at the state and federal level on addressing high risk pools and coverage gaps.

  8. God Bless you Congresswoman Noem. We have always supported you in the past, and we are very excited about you becoming our next Governor. That being truly heartfelt, we do disagree that healthcare is a right for all; it really isn’t and never has been. We respectfully suggest that it shouldn’t be a fundamental right going forward either. Please simply repeal obamacare, increase the age for Medicare enrollment, block grant Medicaid, and move on to something else.

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