News

Washington, DC

November 19th brought members of Congress and advocates of the bleeding disorder community and the American Kidney Fund together for a Congressional Briefing addressing the House Bill – H.R. 3742, The Access to Marketplace Insurance Act which seeks to modify the CMS Interim Final Rule regarding Third Party Payment of Qualified Health Plans. This rule allows health insurance companies to block charities and places of worship from helping patients afford costs associated with their marketplace plans.

Congressman Kevin Cramer (R-ND) introduced H.R. 3742. The legislation amends the Affordable Care Act to protect health insurance premium assistance for the current entities listed in the Interim Final Rule and inserts a new section to protect nonprofit organizations including patient assistance organizations and advocacy groups. The bill also protects the ability of places of worship and civic organizations.

Hemophilia of South Carolina encouraged South Carolina’s Congressmen to cosponsor this bill. Currently, Blue Cross/Blue Shield of South Carolina and Assurant Health on the State’s Market Exchange will no longer accept third party premium assistance and this has impacted our bleeding disorders community. Meetings were held with the offices of Congressmen Mick Mulvaney (R-SC), Trey Gowdy (R-SC), Jeff Duncan (R-SC), Mark Sanford (R-SC), Tom Rice (R-SC), Lindsay Graham (R-SC), and Tim Scott (R-SC). We encourage HSC members and all South Carolinians to write to our Congressmen to ask for their support with the cosponsoring of H.R. 3742. “We need to allow charities to be charitable.” Congressman Kevin Cramer