Trump could quickly doom ACA cost-sharing subsidies for millions of Americans

[DonViejo]

Even without Congress repealing the Affordable Care Act, the Trump administration could undermine the law by unilaterally ending billions of dollars the government pays insurers to subsidize the health coverage of nearly 6 million Americans.

Given that insurers would still be required to provide consumers that financial help, such a move could create upheaval in the ACA’s marketplaces — prompting health plans to raise their prices or drop out, according to health-policy experts in both major political parties.

Intervention by the new president to stop the payments “would precipitate a pretty serious crisis almost immediately” unless Congress stepped in, said James Capretta, a resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.

The money is for a kind of financial assistance that is less familiar than the tax credits the law gives most people for their ACA plan premiums. These “cost-sharing reductions” are designed instead to lower the deductibles, co-pays and other out-of-pocket fees for nearly half the customers this year.

more
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/trump-could-quickly-doom-aca-cost-sharing-subsidies-for-millions-of-americans/2016/12/21/05349066-c2fc-11e6-9a51-cd56ea1c2bb7_story.html?utm_term=.10f126d2b775&wpisrc=nl_headlines&wpmm=1

[Kolesar]

1. So AEI is helping the RW govt to strategize how to kill us ... eom

[beachbum bob]

2. creating negative effects and hardships on business and voters is not a winning combination

so go for it and see how that works out in 2018

[yeoman6987]

4. 2018 GOP races for senate

Wyoming, Nebraska, Arizona, Texas, Utah, Tennessee, Nevada, and Mississippi.


I think we are competitive in Arizona (flakes seat) and Nevada (hollars seat). I don't see anywhere else. Do you?

And democratic senators are up in 23 seats many in trump states.

If we can keep all of ours and gain 2 that would be great!

[SHRED]

3. He doesn't have the juevos

He'll fold and I will ask every Trumpanzee why he's not ending Obamacare.

[Igel]

5. It's like DOMA.

The executive branch is responsible for enforcing the law. But often it decides that it doesn't like the law and doesn't bother to enforce it, by hook or by crook.

The executive branch is also responsible for defending the law. But often it decides that it doesn't like the law and doesn't bother to enforce it, by hook or by crook.

In some cases, the executive branch not only doesn't defend the law, it files a brief to help overturn the act of Congress and of a prior administration.


In this case, if Trump just stops the appeal, it won't be Trump's act of commission that causes the problem but an act of omission. We've already decided that such acts are perfectly fine in principle. Now we have to say that we're upholding the same principle unchanged as we deftly change it and hope nobody notices.

Or we say, "The principle is that our guy should do what we want, ignore the Congress because we like a strong, powerful Executive. When it suits us." You despoil the commons, you spoil the commons, you lose the commons.