Feds Reject State's Attempt To Waive Individual Mandate

The federal government has rejected Ohio’s attempt to end the individual mandate for health care. The mandate is a staple of the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. Health care advocates say lawmakers should take this as a sign to work with Obamacare instead of against it.The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services says the state did not prove intheir waiver requestthat enough Ohioans would still have access to affordable care if it were to end the individual mandate.Steve Wagner, with the Universal Health Care Action Network, says the mandate helps bring down premiums.“Look we require everybody to have insurance if you want to own a car. There are reasons why you would want to spread the risk across the larger population,” says Wagner.Obamacare opponents argue that the law is forcing premiums to go up.The Ohio Department of Insurance is looking into any potential next steps.ODI was required to seek the waiver through a provision from Republican lawmakers. The department paid an actuarial firm nearly $400,000 to help with the waiver.The conservative think tank, The Buckeye Institute, released a statement saying they were disappointed in the decision, adding "The Ohio application does not impact health coverage according to actuarial evidence. While HHS told states it would work with them to use innovation waivers to ease the burden of the Affordable Care Act, in practice HHS has been inflexible. It's refusal to rescind Obama-era guidance regarding [the waiver] reinforces that message of inflexibility." Copyright 2018 The Statehouse News Bureau. To see more, visit The Statehouse News Bureau.