Trump Working to Sabotage Healthcare Markets, Withholding Payments Would Destroy Them

Trump will decide this week whether he will withhold crucial CSR payments as part of continued effort to sabotage healthcare markets.

Trump: “If ObamaCare is hurting people, & it is, why shouldn't it hurt the insurance companies & why should Congress not be paying what public pays?”

Trump: “If a new HealthCare Bill is not approved quickly, BAILOUTS for Insurance Companies and BAILOUTS for Members of Congress will end very soon!”

Conway: “’He’s going to make that decision this week, and that’s a decision that only he can make,’ Ms. Conway said on ‘Fox News Sunday.’”

 

Trump’s suggestion has already created major uncertainty that has caused insurers to raise premiums or leave markets entirely.

Associated Press: “Some insurers have cited the lack of a guarantee on the subsidies as a factor behind requested premium increases for next year. BlueCross BlueShield of North Carolina blamed the problem for most of its nearly 23 percent premium increase for 2018. With a guarantee that Washington would continue honoring the subsidies, the insurer said it would have sought a hike of just under 9 percent.”

NPR: “Individuals could face sharply higher premiums and fewer choices if more health insurers leave the insurance marketplaces because of lingering uncertainty. State and industry officials around the United States are concerned that the federal government could stop funding so-called cost-sharing subsidies that reduce out-of-pocket costs for people with lower incomes.”

 

If Trump chooses to end CSR payments, he will directly impact millions of lower-income Americans who could see their premiums increase by as much as 19 percent.

CNBC: “Every month, insurers are supposed to get reimbursed for so-called CSR subsidies, which they pay out to help cut out-of-pocket costs for their lower-income Obamacare plan members.”

Kaiser: “A new Kaiser Family Foundation analysis finds that the average premium for a benchmark silver plan in Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplaces would need to increase by an estimated 19 percent for insurers to compensate for lost funding if they don’t receive federal payment for ACA cost-sharing subsidies.”

 

Americans know Trump and Republicans in Congress are responsible for any future problems with the ACA.

Kaiser: “With the future of any other replacement plans uncertain, this month’s survey also gauges who the public views as responsible for the 2010 health care law going forward. A majority (61 percent) of the public say that because President Trump and Republicans in Congress are in control of the government, they are now responsible for any problems with the ACA moving forward.”