Support the RIP MSP Act, S. 1313 and H.R. 2524

On behalf of FreedomWorks activists nationwide, I urge you to contact your senators and representative and ask them to support and cosponsor the Repeal Insurance Plans of the Multi-State Program (RIP MSP) Act, S. 1313 and H.R. 2524, introduced by Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) and Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.). The RIP MSP Act would repeal the ObamaCare Multi-State Plan Program, which is a pathway to a public option for healthcare.

Section 1334 of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), more commonly known as ObamaCare, requires that the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) contract at least two national health insurance plans, one of which is statutorily required to be contracted with a nonprofit entity. The ACA required that multi-state plans (MSPs) be offered in all 50 states and the District of Columbia by 2017.

Like co-ops, the MSP was added to the ACA as a nod to the far-left when the so-called public option, a government-run health insurance program designed to undercut private health insurance, proved politically untenable. The concern, however, is that OPM could use the provision to create a public option. As the Heritage Foundation’s Robert Moffit explained, “[I]f the MSP program should fail in generating ‘competition,’ advocates of the lost ‘robust public option’ have also plainly argued that the administration and its allies can build on the ‘non-profit’ plans to recreate it.”

Such a use of MSPs may not be a concern under the current administration, but it could be under the next administration. As Americans experienced under the Obama administration, federal agencies used their power aggressively, bypassing Congress to implement policies that wouldn’t have been approved by the legislative branch.

Passing the RIP MSP Act would be a preemptive strike against such an attempt by OPM, under a future administration, to create a public option, which would undermine private health insurance. Its passage would also fulfill part of a promise to repeal ObamaCare. For these reasons, I urge you to contact your senators and representative and ask them to support and cosponsor the RIP MSP Act, S. 1313 and H.R. 2524

Sincerely, Adam Brandon, President, FreedomWorks