The Wyden–Brown Bill — Short on State Flexibility

Senators Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Scott Brown (R-MA) have introduced a bill that would advance, from 2017 to 2014, the date when states could establish their own federally supported alternatives to parts of the Affordable Care Act. But the bill has many problems. The results of the November election guarantee a protracted struggle in Congress over the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), with House Republicans seeking to repeal the legislation and Democrats trying to protect its core elements. But another threat to the ACA is coming from the states, where a sharp turn to the Republicans has prompted efforts to block or avoid key parts of the legislation. Senators Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Scott Brown (R-MA) recently introduced a two-page bill (S.3958) that seeks to defuse this state pressure without torpedoing the ACA itself. The bill would do so by simply . . .