Major insurance groups criticized President Trump’s decision to end Obamacare insurer payments that they say are being unfairly characterized by the administration as “bailouts.”
America’s Health Insurance Plans and the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association issued a joint statement Friday opposing Trump’s decision to end cost-sharing reduction payments to Obamacare insurers. The insurer groups said that the payments reimburse insurers for lowering out-of-pocket costs for needy families.
“These benefits help real people every day, and if they are ended, there will be real consequences,” the groups said. “These payments are not a bailout — they are passed from the federal government through health plans to medical providers to help lower costs for patients who see a doctor to treat their cancer or fill a prescription for a life-saving medication.”
AHIP represents major insurer groups and the Blue Cross Association more than 30 Blue Cross Blue Shield insurers.
The Senate is working on a narrow bipartisan deal to make the payments in exchange for more flexibility for states to waive Obamacare regulations. However, the payments have been derided by many conservatives as a bailout for Obamacare insurers.
The White House announced late Thursday it was ending the payments because they were unconstitutional. It cited a federal ruling, which has been delayed, that said the payments need a congressional appropriation, and that Congress has not approved them.
Insurers are required under Obamacare to lower copays and deductibles for low-income Obamacare enrollees. They get the cost-sharing reduction payments to reimburse them, and without those payments insurers are expected to raise premiums.
The nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation estimated that premiums for average Obamacare plans would go up 19 percent without the payments.
