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Not Dead Yet: Obamacare Insurers Are Hanging In There - The New York Times

posted onOctober 14, 2017
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Article snippet: Despite President Trump’s best efforts, the Obamacare market hasn’t imploded yet. While Thursday’s decisions to cut off government funding and invite competition from flimsier, cheaper plans will jostle a vulnerable market, many of the major insurance companies say they will remain in the state marketplaces next year. “It’s going to be business as usual,” said Michael F. Neidorff, chief executive of Centene, a major insurer that agreed to sell coverage in areas where competitors had bowed out. “We’ve stepped in and covered bare markets,” he said, adding that if any new bare spots emerged in coming weeks, the company would work with state regulators to try to fill them. But for millions of consumers, and taxpayers, there will be a price to pay. Unless they shop around, consumers who don’t qualify for federal subsidies could face premiums that have been raised by 20 percent or more, just because of the loss of the federal funding. And taxpayers will foot the bill for the higher subsidies required with higher prices. The Congressional Budget Office has estimated that eliminating the cost-sharing reductions could increase the federal deficit by $194 billion over a decade. Mr. Trump has made his disdain for the Affordable Care Act clear in a variety of policies dating to his first week in office, and for months had threatened to stop paying insurers subsidies that help them provide lower deductibles and co-payments to low-income customers. Because of the uncertainty, ... Link to the full article to read more

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