Nevada’s Heller praises health insurance executive order

Sen. Dean Heller, R-Nv., says he welcomes the executive order that will allow health insurers to sell their plans across state lines.

He said the order signed by President Trump “will promote competition in the health care marketplace, increase choices for consumers and ultimately drive down costs.”

But Democrats in the congressional delegation say the order will destabilize and sabotage the ACA.

Heller said the order will also make it easier for small employers to band together to buy health insurance through association health plans.

“For years, I have said that we need to allow insurance companies to offer a number of different products and enable customers to purchase insurance across state lines to encourage competition and lower costs,” he said.

He said he will also continue to back legislation doing just that in the U.S. Senate.

But Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto and Rep. Jacky Rosen both said the executive order is an attempt to undermine and sabotage the Affordable Care Act.

Masto said it would destabilize the healthcare system by undercutting state health insurance marketplaces, sending “premiums and deductibles skyrocketing, sending the health insurance marketplaces into a death spiral.”

Rosen said the executive order will promote discriminatory practices against those with pre-existing conditions. She said it’s just the latest in a list of damaging actions by the Trump administration.