Late response prompts Oklahoma to pull Obamacare waiver request

Oklahoma said it is pulling a request to set up a program to lower Obamacare premiums next year by more than 30 percent because the Trump administration waffled over approving it.

The state had sent a request for a waiver to set up its own reinsurance program in an attempt to lower double-digit premium increases, but officials said the program won’t be ready in time for the 2018 coverage year. The state’s insurance regulator wrote in a letter to Health and Human Services and the Treasury Department Friday that they should pull its waiver request because of the lack of timely approval.