Molina Healthcare CEO: GOP's 'piecemeal approach' to health-care reform will lead to a 'health-care disaster'
With the GOP's failure to repeal Obamacare last month, House Speaker Paul Ryan refused to give a time line for a new bill.
However, Vice President Mike Pence has reportedly been working with the Freedom Caucus to devise new ideas and proposals to potentially revive the American Health Care Act (AHCA). Two of those ideas allow states to opt out of essential benefits (which include mental health care, maternity care, substance abuse care, chemotherapy and more) and community ratings.
But many health-care providers are wary of the fast pace the GOP seems to be taking with repealing Obamacare.
"This again is a rush to accomplish something when we really need a comprehensive bipartisan approach to health-care reform," Molina Healthcare (NYSE: MOH) CEO Dr. Mario Molina told CNBC's " Closing Bell " on Tuesday.
Molina is particularly worried about the potentially higher premiums and misleading packages insurance companies can price and sell.
"Well, what worries me is it allows insurance companies to charge much higher premiums for people with preexisting conditions and at the same time, by changing the essential health benefits, insurance policy companies offer packages at a lower price, which theoretically will appeal to younger people," Molina said. "The problem is, those people find out when they get sick, the insurance premium and the package they purchased do not cover their sickness or the treatment needed or the medications."
According to Molina, funding CSRs (cost sharing reduction), a discount that lowers the price you pay for deductibles, copayments and coinsurance, is imperative for the market and individual insurance.
"They need to fund the CSRs for the next two years to buy Congress the time to come up with some reform legislation," Molina said. "If they don't do that, the individual market collapses, and that would be terrible for the country. It would be terrible for people buying individual insurance, and it would be a black eye for the Republicans."
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