The Trump administration intends to publish a new regulation soon aimed at stabilizing Obamacare’s marketplaces, just as insurers are weighing whether to participate next year.
The administration hasn’t released the text for the regulations or said whether it could be finalized before insurers face the first deadlines this spring for submitting plans for 2018.
The Office of Management and Budget released a notice on a pending rule received Feb. 1 aimed at stabilizing Obamacare markets.
The rule was received the same day that insurers told Congress that they need to know soon whether cost-sharing reduction payments will be reimbursed in 2018.
Under Obamacare, insurers are required to lower the cost of deductibles and copays for low-income Obamacare customers. The government is supposed to reimburse the insurers for the cost-sharing reductions, but those payments have been in doubt since Donald Trump assumed the presidency last month.
Insurers must provide the initial applications for their Obamacare plans by May. However, the plans don’t have to be finalized until September and insurers could withdraw from the insurance markets for 2018 if there is uncertainty in the marketplace.
The House aims to vote on repeal legislation in March or April.
The Obama administration finalized the insurer regulations for the 2018 insurance marketplaces, setting the deadlines for when insurers must offer their plans and making several changes to the marketplace.
