With All The Uncertainty, Insurance Officials Feel Their Hands Are Tied In Approving Premium Increases
“It’s very hard for a regulator to deny those rate increases when we can take a look at their bottom line and can tell they can’t continue if they can’t keep their head above water,” said Mike Kreidler, Washington State’s insurance commissioner and a supporter of the health law. Meanwhile, lawmakers are moving forward with bipartisan talks to try to stabilize the marketplace.
The New York Times:
With Affordable Care Act’s Future Cloudy, Costs For Many Seem Sure To Soar
Health insurers are aggressively increasing prices next year for individual policies sold under the federal health care law, with some raising premiums by more than 50 percent. By approving such steep increases for 2018 in recent weeks, regulators in many states appeared to be coaxing companies to hang in there, despite turmoil in the market and continuing uncertainty in Congress about the future of the law, the Affordable Care Act. (Abelson, 10/3)
The Hill:
GOP Gives Ground In ObamaCare Stabilization Talks
Republicans are willing to provide insurers with two years of ObamaCare subsidies under a bipartisan market stabilization bill, according to the Senate Health Committee chairman. Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) said continuing cost-sharing reduction subsidies for two years is a key part of the stabilization package he is trying to negotiate with Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.). (Weixel, 10/3)
The Hill:
Health Industry Pressures Congress To Stabilize Individual Market
The Council for Affordable Health Coverage (CAHC) is urging Congress to take several bipartisan steps to help stabilize the individual insurance markets. In a letter to Democratic and Republican leaders in both chambers, the coalition of drugmakers, insurers and others in the health sector is seeking a federal reinsurance program or a grant program to provide money for state-led reinsurance programs. (Roubein, 10/3)
And in other news —
The Hill:
Ex-Obama Officials Launch Group To Sign People Up For ObamaCare
Former Obama administration officials are launching an effort to sign people up for ObamaCare, saying they need to fill the gap left by the Trump administration’s cutbacks. Lori Lodes and Joshua Peck, who oversaw enrollment efforts in the Department of Health and Human Services under President Barack Obama, are launching the group called Get America Covered. (Sullivan, 10/4)
Politico Pro:
CMS Official Boasts Of Filling Obamacare 'Bare Counties'
A top CMS official on Tuesday told staff that the agency is “really proud” that there are no counties lacking an Obamacare insurer, saying it was the Trump administration’s goal to make sure every area had at least one company offering plans in the law's exchanges. The comments came from Randy Pate, who was appointed by the administration to helm the office at CMS that oversees Obamacare implementation, on Tuesday afternoon during a meeting of agency staff in which top officials discussed agency priorities, according to a video obtained by POLITICO. (Pradhan, 10/3)
The Star Tribune:
Gov. Dayton Makes Second Plea For MinnesotaCare
Gov. Mark Dayton renewed efforts Tuesday to reverse a decision by federal health officials that could cost the state $369 million a year in connection with its MinnesotaCare health insurance program. In a letter to top health regulators in Washington, D.C., Dayton urged them to reconsider a recent decision that would sharply cut the federal funding stream that helps pay for MinnesotaCare. (Howatt, 10/3)
