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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsTrump's Latest Obamacare Attack Triggers Rate Hikes, Lawsuits, Confusion
By ALICE OLLSTEIN Published OCTOBER 17, 2017 6:00 AM
President Donald Trumps decision last week to pull the trigger on his oft-repeated threat to cut off subsidies to health insurance companies is having widespread fallout, with many states scrambling to approve higher insurance rates for 2018 to make up for the loss and keep insurers from fleeing the market altogether.
Because the insurance companies are required by law to cover everyone regardless of their health status and lower the cost of care for low-income patients, and because many had assumed the government would keep making the cost sharing reduction (CSR) payments, Trumps move has thrown them into turmoil.
The vast majority either had raised their rates already in anticipation of the CSR cut or are filing for emergency rate hikes now. And while these rate hikes will not impact the more than 80 percent of individual market enrollees who get government tax credits, they will cost the government billions of dollars as those tax credits creep upward to cover the difference. The rate increases will also slam the millions of middle class Americans whose individual health plans are unsubsidized.
The timing of the announcementmere weeks before the start of open enrollment period for 2018 and just after insurers had already signed contracts for participating could not have been worse.
Potentially the biggest effect of all this is just to create confusion, warned Larry Levitt, the vice president of the Kaiser Family Foundation. It would be quite understandable if consumers are perplexed about whether subsidies are still available for them, which they are.
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http://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/csr-fallout-trump-obamacare-aca-csrs
riversedge
(69,708 posts)spanone
(135,631 posts)Link to tweet
The Genealogist
(4,723 posts)It has to take a real sicko to be "very proud" of fucking over millions of people. Deplorable!
ProfessorGAC
(64,413 posts)What part of "UP" does he not understand? The rest of us actually pay our bills, dumbass.
DK504
(3,847 posts)... cut or are filing for emergency rate hikes now. "
And of course the insurance companies are not calling the WH and telling him he is a moron or doing the right thing by NOT raising rates. That of course would be way too hard.
All the Moron wants to do is create chaos, he thinks this is 'The Aprrentice'.
Atman
(31,464 posts)If it wasn't for how terrible Obamacare was, Trump wouldn't have had to do this. The GOP is nothing if not cunning and ruthless with their propaganda and lies.
world wide wally
(21,718 posts)global1
(25,166 posts)referred to as 'Trumpcare' and that moniker needs to be hung on both the Repugs and Trump. They own this now.
Proud Liberal Dem
(24,353 posts)Trump himself said that "Obamacare" doesn't exist anymore and should not be mentioned as such. Let's take him up on that!
procon
(15,805 posts)Trump is a genius for introducing us to governance by chaos, the Putin Method of Divide & Conquer - the Russian Expeditionary Campaign in America. Just by signing a piece of paper Trump blew up the entire healthcare system, proving that even small changes can result in huge chaotic system failures across the country. Trump has successfully created chaos in every government system and clogged the news with so many lies, inflammatory remarks and outrageous tweets, that journalists are employed full time just to separate Trump's lies and wanton remarks from facts and the truth. It's uncontrolled chaos!
Proud Liberal Dem
(24,353 posts)amirite?