The Senate Health Committee has scheduled two more hearings to help in crafting a bipartisan healthcare bill.
The committee will hear from health policy experts Sept. 12 and from stakeholders Sept. 14. That’s in addition to two hearings previously scheduled for next week.
Governors will testify before the committee Thursday and state insurance officials will testify Wednesday.
The committee is looking to pass a bipartisan bill to stabilize ObamaCare’s exchanges by the end of September.
The bill could include funding for key ObamaCare insurer payments, known as cost-sharing reduction subsidies, and changes to the law’s state waivers.
“At these hearings, we will hear testimony from state insurance commissioners and governors — those closest to the problem — on steps Congress can take to help make insurance available at affordable prices,” Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) said in a statement last week.
“Any solution that Congress passes for a 2018 stabilization package will have to be small, bipartisan and balanced … I look forward to finishing our work by the end of September in time to have an effect on the health insurance policies sold in 2018 and to give these millions of Americans the peace of mind that they will be able to buy health insurance for next year.”
Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper (D) will be one of the governors to testify next week. He joined with Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R) Thursday to release a bipartisan compromise proposal that has been signed by six other governors including Montana Gov. Steve Bullock (D) who will also attend the hearing next week.