A large portion of U.S. counties will have a free healthcare plan available for low-income customers, an indirect result of President Trump’s decision to stop making Obamacare payments, according to an analysis published Thursday by the consulting firm Avalere Health.
Obamacare customers who shop on healthcare.gov, the website that 39 states use, can find a bronze plan at no cost to them. The plans will be subsidized by the federal government, making them cheaper to those making 150 percent of the federal poverty level, which is $18,090 a year for an individual. Bronze plans are the lowest of four metal tiers that also include silver, gold and platinum, and though they won’t have a premium cost they will have higher out-of-pocket costs like deductibles and copays.
Though Trump stopped making payments to insurers known as cost-sharing reduction subsidies, the main subsidies that the federal government uses to help individuals purchase health insurance are still on the books. Because those subsidies, by law, are tied to the premiums of the benchmark silver plans, state regulators allowed insurers to hike silver plan premiums significantly, which in turn triggered higher federal subsidies.
“The dramatically higher subsidies mean consumers could be getting much better deals for bronze and gold plans for 2018,” said Chris Sloan, senior manager at Avalere.
The data was specifically applied to customers who are 50 years old and do not smoke. People can pay more or less based on their age and have a surcharge for a smoking status. About 6.7 million Americans currently have Obamacare plans and are unsubsidized, and are facing average rate increases on silver plans of 34 percent nationwide, but they can shop for other plan levels and states vary significantly in their rates.
These customers will also be able to buy free silver plans in 18 percent of counties and free gold plans in 10 percent of counties that use healthcare.gov. The same discounts apply for families of four making $36,900 or less.
