Rhode Island finalized rate hikes of up to 8 percent for Obamacare plans for 2019, becoming the latest state to raise rates and blame the Trump administration.
The state’s lead insurance regulator said on Wednesday that Trump administration efforts to undermine Obamacare have made it a “challenging” year. Critics have charged that the Trump administration has destabilized Obamacare’s insurance exchanges by expanding access to cheaper plans with fewer benefits and by zeroing out of the individual mandate’s financial penalty in 2019.
The state “responded to these threats quickly to protect consumers as much as possible,” said Health Insurance Commissioner Marie Ganim in a statement Wednesday.
Rhode Island has two Obamacare insurers: Blue Cross & Blue Shield and Neighborhood Health Plan. Blue Cross is seeking an average rate hike of 7.5 percent and Neighborhood Health 8.7 percent. The insurers sell plans on Obamacare’s insurance exchanges, which offer plans for people who don’t get insurance through a job or the government.
Rhode Island is the latest state to blame the Trump administration as drivers of higher insurance rates.
Critics say that the move to expand cheap plans and the loss of the mandate penalty will cause fewer young and healthy people to sign up for Obamacare, leaving a sicker population that will drive up costs.
Democrats have charged the moves as acts of clear “sabotage” against Obamacare, which Trump has vowed to repeal.
