CBO: Trump’s Threat To Stop Health Subsidies Would Increase Premiums And The Deficit
The Congressional Budget Office found that if President Donald Trump opts to halt certain insurance subsidies it would increase the federal deficit by $194 billion and cause the premium costs for a popular Obamacare plan to increase significantly.
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, 8/16)
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)
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)
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)
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)