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Great Falls, Montana-based health system CEO John Goodnow accuses GOP of sabotaging insurance exchanges

Republicans are injecting instability into federal insurance marketplaces by suggesting lowering subsidies for people who buy coverage, and it’s a "slick trick" to ensure the failure of the exchanges, the head of one of Montana’s largest hospitals said Thursday.

Republicans favor the phrase "death spiral" when discussing the health of the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. One of the key provisions of the law, passed in 2010, was setting up marketplaces where people who didn’t get insurance from their job or through federal programs like Medicare or Medicaid could buy coverage, often with subsidies covering much of the cost.

Great Falls-based Benefis CEO John Goodnow said the lifespan of the Affordable Care Act has been shortened because insurance companies are pulling out of the exchanges "because of all the fear that’s been created over funding."

"All you have to do is threaten to defund the subsidies," he said Thursday on a panel in Helena organized by the Montana Nurses Association to discuss the bill.

HOLLY K. MICHELS [email protected]

Full Story: http://helenair.com/news/politics/state/great-falls-based-health-system-ceo-accuses-gop-of-sabotaging/article_2c09d842-e241-5da8-a1d1-8294d986bbff.html

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