The Trump Premium Tax Is Real: Don’t Take It From Us- Take It From The Insurers
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ALASKA Alaska Dispatch News: Premera expects big cut in health insurance premiums on Alaska’s individual market “Premera, the sole insurer in Alaska's individual insurance market, announced Tuesday that it expects rates to drop more than 20 percent in 2018, a major turnaround for the beleaguered market. … The rate decrease assumes that Premera does not receive subsidies from the federal government known as cost share reductions (CSRs), Coon said. That makes the proposed rate cut all the more remarkable at a time when many markets are on shaky ground. If the state does receive the CSRs, the rate cut could grow even larger. President Donald Trump has repeatedly raised the possibility that he will order the federal government to stop making the subsidy payments after the Senate's failed attempts to pass health care legislation.” [Alaska Dispatch News, 8/2/17] ARIZONA Arizona Republic: 'Obamacare' rates hinge on Trump administration's decisions, Arizona insurer says “Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona, which sells marketplace plans in all counties except Maricopa and Pima, has filed its proposed 2018 rates with the Arizona Department of Insurance. The rates assume the cost-sharing payments will be eliminated next year. Blue Cross Blue Shield estimated that the average rate increase across all plans is 7.2 percent, said Jeff Stelnik, senior vice president of strategy, sales and marketing. … If the federal government allows cost-sharing payments, ‘We're looking at something like a flat increase across all plans,’ he said.” [Arizona Republic, 8/1/17] CALIFORNIA LA Times: Covered California premiums will rise 12.5%, and Anthem Blue Cross cuts coverage “Since he took office, Trump has also threatened to end payments that insurance companies receive to hold down out-of-pocket costs for lower-income consumers. Covered California officials said Tuesday that if those payments to insurers are stopped, people who buy silver-tier plans will have to pay an extra surcharge of 12.4% of their premium on average, officials said Tuesday. ‘A decision by the federal government is needed in the next few weeks,’ Lee said.” [LA Times, 8/1/17] Fresno Bee: Get ready to pay more for health care next year: hikes from 5 to 24 percent in Valley “Uncertainty over the future of the Affordable Care Act will account for about 3 percent of the statewide increase in 2018, said Peter V. Lee, executive director of Covered California, the state’s health insurance exchange created for the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. California also got two sets of premium rates from insurers for 2018 because of the uncertainty. And Lee said Tuesday that lower-income consumers could face a 12.5 percent surcharge if the federal government does not fund cost-sharing subsidies. … Lee said Trump needs to provide clear guidance. ‘A Tweet would not be enough. This needs to be a statement between Congress and the White House that there is certainty through 2018,’ he said.” [Fresno Bee, 8/1/17] CONNECTICUT Norwich Bulletin: Trump threat to end ‘bailouts’ would hike out-of-pocket costs for residents “Nearly 48,000 Connecticut residents benefit from the cost-sharing reduction (CSR) program, which subsidizes co-payments and deductibles for individuals and families who earn less than 250 percent of the federal poverty level. An end to the CSR payments would mean moderate-income people would have larger out-of-pocket costs next year, even if the Affordable Care Act remains unchanged. The president’s threat to end CSR payments also might prompt Connecticut’s two remaining insurers to quit Access Health CT. Those insurers – Anthem and ConnectiCare – said the continuation of the payments will be a factor in their decisions whether to remain in the exchange. If both insurers leave Access Health CT, about 74,000 Connecticut residents whose monthly premiums are subsidized by the federal government would lose that help.” [Norwich Bulletin, 8/1/17] IDAHO Spokesman-Review/AP: Idaho health insurers plan big rate hikes after Trump threatens to halt payments “Uncertainty from the federal government has caused health insurers to propose steep rate hikes for Idahoans who buy plans on the state-based exchange for coverage in 2018, state officials said Monday. Idaho Department of Insurance Director Dean Cameron said threats from the federal government to stop funding key aspects of the Affordable Care Act are to blame for the rate hikes. … According to Cameron, President Donald Trump’s threat to end cost-sharing reduction payments – designed to trim out-of-pocket costs for lower-income people – has forced the spikes because insurers remain unclear if they’ll be on the hook to cover the payments.” [Spokesman Review, 7/31/17] IOWA Des Moines Register: Trump's threat to cut Obamacare funding could cause Iowa premiums to spike even more “Iowans who buy their own health insurance could face even bigger premium increases next year if President Donald Trump follows through with a threat to cut off a major stream of Obamacare assistance, the state's sole remaining carrier said Monday. Iowa’s health-insurance market is already teetering, with just one carrier planning to sell individual policies here next year. That carrier, Medica, has proposed raising Iowa premiums by 43 percent in order to keep up with fast-rising costs of caring for chronically ill Iowans. On Monday, Medica’s spokesman said the company would propose another 12 percent to 20 percent in increases on top of that 43 percent if Trump stops payments from a low-profile but important part of Obamacare.” [Des Moines Register, 8/1/17] MICHIGAN AP: Michigan delays posting proposed health insurance rates. “DIFS Director Patrick McPharlin required the companies to submit two rate filings — one that assumes no ‘cost-sharing’ reductions and another that factors them in. The payments to Michigan insurers, which help subsidize ‘silver’ plans for people making up to 250 percent of the poverty level, totaled $166 million in 2016. ‘If rates do not account for such expenditures, these issuers could suffer significant financial losses. Unfortunately, this means higher premiums will be charged,’ McPharlin wrote in a June 1 bulletin.” [AP, 8/1/17] NEBRASKA Omaha World-Herald: Nebraska’s only remaining Obamacare insurer proposes average rate increase of nearly 17 percent “Medica said it might refile its proposed rates with the Nebraska Department of Insurance if the federal government takes certain actions in time for 2018’s health insurance market. Refiled rates for 2018 could go up if the government stops collecting tax penalties from people who don’t have insurance or stops paying subsidies that reduce deductibles or other out-of-pocket costs, Medica said. Both steps are under consideration in the Trump administration.” [Omaha World-Herald, 8/2/17] OREGON Oregon Public Broadcasting: Oregon Health Care Marketplace Stabilizing, Despite 'Death Spiral' Claims “The CEO of Moda Health Robert Gootee agrees the state’s individual marketplace is relatively stable. But he’s worried about the fight over ‘cost sharing reduction,’ or CSR, payments. They’re federal payments that help low-income people secure insurance by waiving their deductibles and copays. … The CSR payments amount to more than $10 billion a year and Gootee said cutting them might result in premium increases of 20 percent.” [OPB, 7/20/17] PENNSYLVANIA Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: Trump decision on Obamacare payments could impact Pennsylvania “In Pennsylvania, about 360,000 people had individual plans they had bought on the federal health insurance marketplace at healthcare.gov as of February, according to a Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services report. About 57 percent of them receive the cost-sharing reductions, according to the report. The payments can reduce deductibles from several thousand dollars to several hundred. Without the payments, premiums would increase an average of about 20 percent more than they will already increase for 2018, according to the Pennsylvania Insurance Department.” [Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, 8/1/17]
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