Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
CBO: Trump's Threat To Stop Health Subsidies Would Increase Premiums And The Deficit
Bloomberg: Trump Threat On Obamacare Would Boost Deficit By $194 Billion
Health plan premiums for some in Obamacare will surge and the federal deficit will increase by almost $200 billion over a decade if President Donald Trump follows through on a threat to halt certain insurance subsidies under the law, the Congressional Budget Office said Tuesday. The CBO, which provides nonpartisan analysis of federal policy issues for lawmakers, released the report Tuesday after the Trump administration made repeated threats to stop paying cost-sharing reduction subsidies under Obamacare. The payments go to insurers, and are used to help reduce out-of-pocket costs for poorer Americans in the program. (Tracer, 8/15)
The Associated Press: Report: Higher Premiums If Trump Halts 'Obamacare' Subsidies
Premiums for a popular type of individual health care plan would rise sharply, and more people would be left with no insurance options if President Donald Trump makes good on his threat to stop “Obamacare” payments to insurers, the Congressional Budget Office says. The nonpartisan number crunchers also estimated that cutting off payments that now reduce copays and deductibles for people of modest incomes would add $194 billion to federal deficits over a decade. That head-scratching outcome is because a different Affordable Care Act subsidy would automatically increase as premiums jump, more than wiping out any savings. (Alonso-Zaldivar, 8/15)
NPR: CBO Analysis Finds That Ending Reimbursements To Insurers Will Raise The Deficit
The cost is "eye-poppingly large," says Nicholas Bagley, a professor of health law at the University of Michigan. "This single policy could effectively end up costing 20 percent of the entire bill of the ACA." (Kodjak, 8/15)
Kaiser Health News: CBO: Killing Cost-Sharing Subsidies Would Hike Silver Plan Premiums And Deficit
The change would not be expected to have much long-term effect on the number of uninsured people, according to the analysis. But it could cause a shift in which plans are popular with marketplace customers as insurers realign some of their prices to defray the loss of the federal payments, the CBO said. Surprisingly, some customers might find better deals by looking at higher-end products. (8/15)
The New York Times: Trump Threat To Obamacare Would Send Premiums And Deficits Higher
Even before efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act collapsed in the Senate last month, Mr. Trump began threatening to stop paying the subsidies, known as cost-sharing reductions. He said the health care law would “implode” and Democrats would have no choice but to negotiate a replacement plan. Mr. Trump described his strategy as, “Let Obamacare implode, then deal.” Those threats continue, though the Trump administration has paid the subsidies each month. (Pear and Kaplan, 8/15)
The Wall Street Journal: Health Exchange Premiums Would Rise 20% In 2018 If Subsidies Ended, CBO Estimates
In an ironic twist, stopping the subsidies would also wind up costing the federal government more in the end, the report said. Higher premiums for mid-priced plans would require the government to pay larger tax credits to consumers to help offset coverage costs. The federal deficit would increase by $194 billion through 2026, the report said. (Armour, 8/15)
USA Today: CBO: Ending Obamacare Cost-Sharing Subsidies Would Raise Premiums And The Deficit
Most people buying insurance sold on the health care exchanges created by the Affordable Care Act would pay a similar monthly cost to what they pay now despite premiums increasing 20% next year and increasing to 25% higher by 2020. But that’s because the federal government would be picking up the difference with tax credits that subsidize premiums through a different part of the law. (Groppe, 8/15)
Politico: CBO: Pulling Obamacare Subsidies Would Drive Up Premiums, Increase Deficit
Insurers have already cited uncertainty surrounding the funding as a reason for big premium increases for 2018. Health plans might decide to bolt the Obamacare markets altogether if the payments go away. They have until late September in most states to make final decisions about 2018 participation. (Demko, 8/15)
The Hill: CBO: ObamaCare Premiums Could Rise 20 Percent If Trump Ends Payments
At the request of House Democratic leadership, CBO estimated what would happen if the payments to insurers ended after December. Under this scenario, CBO staff said, insurers would know by the end of August that the payments would be ending. (Roubein, 8/15)
Modern Healthcare: CBO: End Of CSRs Would Add To Federal Deficit
Ending cost-sharing reduction payments could cause insurers to abandon the individual market in counties that contain 5% of the U.S. population, according to a new projection from the Congressional Budget Office. Additionally, gross premiums for silver plans offered through the Affordable Care Act marketplace would jump 20% in 2018 and by 2020 would be 25% higher than if the CSRs continue. The CBO Tuesday said that if the CSR payments were cut off after insurers had already committed to 2018 rates, more insurers would exit the market in order to stem their losses. (Lee, 8/15)
The Wall Street Journal: What Are Insurance Subsidies And What Would Happen If They Were Cut?
As health insurers weigh their commitments to the Affordable Care Act’s exchanges for 2018, they point to a key issue that will affect the rates they would charge and indeed whether they will participate: Federal subsidies known as cost-sharing reductions. Those payments are likely to be a major story going forward, and on Tuesday, the Congressional Budget Office estimated that if President Donald Trump carried out his threat to halt the subsidies, it would boost premiums for middle-priced plans by 20% next year. (Wilde Mathews, 8/15)
KQED: Three Ways Trump Is Helping The Affordable Care Act Explode
After months of trying to repeal and replace Obamacare, Congress has moved on to other issues. But there are still things the administration can do — and is doing — to undermine the health insurance markets. (Dembosky, Fiore and Grossberg, 8/15)
