Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Nearly 70% Of People Benefiting From Insurer Subsidies Live In States Trump Won
The Associated Press: Pro-Trump States Most Affected By His Health Care Decision
Nearly 70 percent of those benefiting from the so-called cost-sharing subsidies live in states Trump won last November, according to an analysis by The Associated Press. The number underscores the political risk for Trump and his party, which could end up owning the blame for increased costs and chaos in the insurance marketplace. The subsidies are paid to insurers by the federal government to help lower consumers' deductibles and co-pays. People who benefit will continue receiving the discounts because insurers are obligated by law to provide them. But to make up for the lost federal funding, health insurers will have to raise premiums substantially, potentially putting coverage out of reach for many consumers. (Cassidy and Hoyer, 10/14)
The Washington Post: Timing Of White House Actions Unrolling Parts Of ACA ‘Couldn’t Be Worse,’ States Say
After threatening for months to end billions of dollars in payments promised to health insurers, President Trump finally dropped the ax with timing that could inflict maximal disruption on the Affordable Care Act enrollment season scheduled to begin in two weeks. The most immediate upheaval is playing out in a set of states where regulators had ignored the risk that the president might carry out his threat and told insurers not to include any cushion in their 2018 rates for ACA health plans. Officials in at least three states are now debating whether to delay the Nov. 1 start of enrollment as they rush to consider higher premiums to make up for the abrupt loss of federal money. (Goldstein, 10/14)
Los Angeles Times: Trump Healthcare Move Threatens Sharply Higher Premiums And Market Chaos
Caught in the middle are millions of Americans likely to see their insurance premiums shoot higher as the administration intensifies its effort to dismantle the 2010 healthcare law, often called Obamacare. Insurers have said that markets in some parts of the country could collapse, leaving many consumers who don’t get insurance on the job with no choices for health plans. And state insurance regulators predicted premiums in the individual market nationally would rise by 12% to 15% next year because of the cutoff. (Levey and Lauter, 10/13)
NPR: Health Insurance Premiums To Rise After Subsidies Stop
The decision will most directly affect middle-class families who buy their own insurance without financial help from the government. Consumers who earn more than 400 percent of the federal poverty level — an individual with income of about $48,000 or a family of four that makes more than $98,400 — will likely see their costs for coverage rise next year by an average of about 20 percent nationwide. People with lower incomes will be unaffected since the ACA, also known as Obamacare, provides government subsidies — in the form of tax credits — that ensure their out-of-pocket insurance costs remain stable. So when premiums rise, those tax credits rise in tandem. (Kodjak, 10/13)
Los Angeles Times: What Trump's Decision To End A Federal Healthcare Subsidy Means For Californians
According to experts, withdrawal of the subsidies could lead insurers to drop out of the exchanges, healthcare marketplaces to collapse and premiums to increase. The biggest effect would be on the individual insurance market, through which about 3 million Californians buy a health plan. (Karlamangla, 10/14)
The Oregonian: Oregon Officials Say They Sidestepped Trump's 'Sabotage' Of Health Insurance Market
By late Friday, though, Oregon insurance regulators said they had figured out a way to increase a different federal health insurance subsidy – premium assistance payments -- that could more than cover the loss of the cost-sharing payments for many Oregonians. The higher premium assistance payments won't come without some pain. The state said it will allow carriers a special, one-time 7.1 percent rate increase on silver plan policies. (Manning and Borrud, 10/13)
Seattle Times: 70,000 Washingtonians Face Higher Insurance Costs After Trump Order, Officials Say
More than 70,000 Washingtonians will face higher health-insurance costs because of President Donald Trump’s decision to halt Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidy payments to insurers, state officials said Friday. Trump’s orders, announced late Thursday, “are certain to result in higher premium payments for consumers and will force our insurers to determine whether they will remain in an unstable market,” said state Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler. (Young, 10/13)
Des Moines Register: Trump's Obamacare Cut Shouldn't Derail Iowa's Stopgap Insurance Plan
Iowans who buy their own insurance won’t be immediately affected by President Trump’s decision to cut off a major stream of Obamacare money because state regulators and the sole insurance carrier offering such policies had already assumed he would do so, officials said Friday. Trump decided Thursday to follow through on threats to cut off “cost-sharing” payments under the Affordable Care Act. Those payments reimburse insurers for reducing deductibles and other out-of-pocket costs for moderate-income Americans who buy their own policies. (Leys, 10/13)
Nashville Tennessean: President Trump's Decision To End ACA Subsidy Creates Fresh Uncertainty
Tennessee's individual health insurance market is entering uncharted territory after a pair of actions from President Donald Trump Thursday cast a heavy pall over the nearly five-year-old market only weeks before open enrollment begins. The White House announced via a late-night statement it will not continue to make cost-sharing reduction payments (CSRs) to insurers — a subsidy thrust into the spotlight as the administration wavered on the future payments, which had become a month-by-month decision. (Fletcher, 10/13)
Nashville Tennessean: What Is The ACA Subsidy Trump Is Ending? Here's What It Will Mean For You
At this point, insurers are committed to 2018 since they signed federal contracts on Sept. 27. BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee will continue with its plans for 2018, said Roy Vaughn, chief communications officer. Insurers could try to use the court system to get out of the contracts now that it's clear the federal government won't pay the CSRs — unless Congress passes legislation to enforce it. (Fletcher, 10/13)
Chicago Tribune: Trump's Plan To End Obamacare Subsidies Stirs Uncertainty In Illinois
The state’s largest insurer, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois, said Friday it plans to remain on the state’s Obamacare exchange next year despite President Donald Trump’s decision to end subsidies to health insurers. Whether other Illinois insurers flee the state’s exchange is still unclear. President Donald Trump’s administration on Thursday night confirmed plans to stop making so-called cost-sharing reduction payments to insurers. (Schencker, 10/13)
Miami Herald: Florida Wins When Trump Scraps Obamacare Subsidies
By canceling Affordable Care Act subsidies for low-income Americans this week, President Donald Trump might be undermining the health law known as Obamacare in some states. But in Florida, the president’s executive order would lead to a financial windfall for Obamacare insurers and better coverage options for many of the 1.4 million Floridians with an ACA plan, health policy experts say. (Chang, 10/13)
Cleveland Plain Dealer: Cleveland Hospitals Gauging Effect Of Trump Ending Insurance Subsidies
The decision late Thursday by President Donald Trump's administration to end cost-sharing subsidies for insurers is leaving area hospitals scrambling to determine what that means for patients locally. The payments were established under President Barack Obama's Affordable Care Act and reimburse insurers for covering out-of-pocket healthcare costs for lower-income Americans. (Christ, 10/13)
Boston Globe: Baker Calls Halting Obamacare Insurance Subsidies ‘Wrong Decision’
Elected officials from both parties and leaders from all corners of the health care industry on Friday condemned the White House’s decision to cut off federal health care subsidies, warning the move will throw insurance markets into chaos and endanger affordable coverage for thousands of families. (Dayal McCluskey, 10/13)
The Hill: GOP Governor: Trump Halting ObamaCare Payments Is ‘Devastating’
Nevada's Republican Gov. Brian Sandoval ripped President Trump's decision to end key payments to insurers selling ObamaCare plans on Friday, calling the move "devastating." The payments help low-income people afford co-pays, deductibles and other out-of-pocket costs associated with health insurance policies. (Manchester, 10/13)
California Healthline: Impact Of Trump Subsidy Decision Blunted In California — For Now
Unable to get Congress to “repeal and replace” the Affordable Care Act, President Donald Trump this week took matters into his own hands. Late Thursday evening, the White House announced it would stop paying key subsidies, known as “cost-sharing reductions,” that compensate insurers for providing discounts on deductibles, copays and other out-of-pocket costs to low-income consumers. (Rovner, Bazar and Terhune, 10/13)
Georgia Health News: Trump’s Latest Move Shakes ACA, But Effect Was Foreseen In Georgia
On one level, the White House’s pledge late Thursday to stop cost-sharing payments to health insurers under the Affordable Care Act won’t make a major difference in Georgia. That’s because three of the four health insurers offering coverage on the state exchange have already factored in the likely elimination of the payments in their huge 2018 premium increases. ... But on the heels of his executive order to ease rules on association health plans and short-term policies, Trump has shown that he’s willing to make a variety of moves to unravel the ACA as much as he can, after Republicans in Congress failed to repeal it, as they had long pledged. (Miller, 10/13)
