Supreme Court To Hear ‘Bait-And-Switch’ $12B ACA Suit From Insurers Who Claim They Were Hurt By Risk Corridor Program
The health care law established so-called risk corridors meant to help insurance companies cope with the risks they took on when they decided to participate in the marketplaces. The law’s drafters hoped that payments into the program would offset payments out. However, losses substantially outpaced gains. The government was supposed to make up much of the difference, but Congress later enacted a series of appropriation riders that seemed to bar the promised payments.
The New York Times:
Supreme Court To Hear Insurers’ Suit On Obamacare
The Supreme Court agreed on Monday to decide whether the federal government was entitled to break a promise to shield insurance companies from some of the risks they took in participating in the exchanges established by President Barack Obama’s health care law, the Affordable Care Act. In their brief seeking Supreme Court review, two insurance companies said they had been the victims of “a bait-and-switch of staggering dimensions in which the government has paid insurers $12 billion less than what was promised.” (Liptak, 6/24)
The Associated Press:
Supreme Court To Review Insurers' Obamacare Claims For $12B
The justices say Monday that they will hear appeals in the fall from insurers who argue that they are entitled to the money under a provision of the "Obamacare" health law that promised insurers a financial cushion for losses they might incur by selling coverage to people in the marketplaces created by the health care law. (6/24)
Reuters:
Supreme Court To Hear Insurers' Bid For $12 Billion In Obamacare Money
Under the risk corridor program, insurers that paid out significantly less in claims on policies sold through the exchanges than they took in from premiums provided some of their gains to the government. Insurers that paid out more were entitled to government compensation for part of their losses. (Raymond, 6/24)
CNN:
$12 Billion Lawsuit Over Obamacare Payments To Health Insurance Companies Headed To Supreme Court
Republicans, championed by Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, succeeded in requiring the program to be budget neutral after insurers had already set their 2014 rates. So insurers only received a fraction of the risk corridor payments they requested because the amount far exceeded what was contributed. That huge shortfall forced some smaller insurers to shut their doors and prompted some others to stop offering coverage on the exchanges. (Luhby, 6/24)
The Washington Post:
Supreme Court To Consider Whether Federal Government Owes Billions To Health-Care Insurers
But insurers say the government never fully funded the program, and owes them $12 billion.“That $12 billion error alone cries out for this court’s review,” said a brief filed by Moda Health Plan and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina. “But the consequences of the divided decision extend much further. By giving judicial approval to the government’s egregious disregard for its unambiguous statutory and contractual commitments, the decision provides a roadmap for the government to promise boldly, renege obscurely, and avoid both financial and political accountability for depriving private parties of billions in reliance interests.” (Barnes, 6/24)
The Wall Street Journal:
Supreme Court Takes Case On ACA Risk-Sharing Payments
Some smaller insurers, including health cooperatives set up under the ACA, went out of business when they were faced with high-cost customers and didn’t receive the risk corridor payments. A federal appeals court last year sided with the government in a 2-to-1 decision. The majority said Congress validly suspended the payments. A dissenting judge said the appropriations changes didn’t cancel the government’s obligations to pay the money. (Kendall and Armour, 6/24)
Chicago Tribune:
U.S. Supreme Court Will Hear Case Over The Collapse Of Health Insurer Land Of Lincoln
In addition to having to find new health insurance midyear, a number of Land of Lincoln customers also had to start paying toward new deductibles. They didn’t get credit, from their new insurers for money they had already paid toward their deductibles for most of 2016 under Land of Lincoln. Land of Lincoln’s demise, due to the government’s failure to make the full payments, also forced the Illinois Life and Health Insurance Guaranty Association, health care providers and other Illinois insurers to absorb additional costs, according to the petition. The guaranty association, funded by insurers across the state, had to pay remaining provider and other claims after Land of Lincoln went under. (Schencker, 6/24)
Politico:
Supreme Court Agrees To Hear Obamacare Cases With Billions Of Dollars At Stake
This marks the fifth Obamacare-related case the Supreme Court has agreed to hear in almost a decade since the law's passage, and it may soon hear another — a constitutional challenge brought by Republican-led states and supported by the Trump administration. (Demko, 6/24)
Modern Healthcare:
Supreme Court To Hear Cases Over ACA Risk-Corridor Funds
The insurance lobbying group America's Health Insurance Plans praised the Supreme Court's willingness to consider the case. "The Supreme Court's decision to hear this case recognizes how important it is for American businesses, including health insurance providers, to be able to rely on the federal government as a fair and reliable partner," AHIP CEO Matt Eyles said in a statement. "Strong, stable and predictable partnerships between the private and the public sector are an essential part of our nation's economy, and our industry looks forward to having this matter heard before the Court." (Livingston, 6/24)
The Hill:
Supreme Court To Hear ObamaCare Case On Whether Insurers Are Owed Billions
“Looks like the Supreme Court may invalidate the GOP sabotage that drove ACA premium hikes in the early years,” Topher Spiro, vice president for health policy at the liberal Center for American Progress, tweeted. (Sullivan, 6/24)
