Montana Insurance Commissioner Monica Lindeen met with President Barack Obama on Thursday, April 17 in the state dining room of the White House in Washington, D.C. to discuss progress on the Affordable Care Act.

Lindeen said the meeting with other state insurance commissioners lasted over an hour, and the President stayed until the end.

"He is certainly committed to this issue," Lindeen said. "There was discussion about continued collaboration and communication for the success of this project. We also talked about the future of rate review, the potential for increased rates in the future, and we talked about the transition in HHS with the resignation of Secretary Sebelius. There was discussion about the open enrollment issue for the next term in 2015, as well as challenges for Navigators and for the territories that were also represented at the meeting."

Regarding the issue of health insurance policy rates, Lindeen said the President agreed about the importance of keeping rates as low as possible.

"Every insurance commissioner in the country feels the same way," Lindeen said." However, at the same time, we know that insurance companies need to remain solvent. Because of this, there will have to be some kind of rate increases to make sure these companies will be able to pay the claims when the time comes."

Montana State Auditor and Insurance Commissioner Monica Lindeen

 

 

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