Trump order could mean bigger rate increase in Pennsylvania
HARRISBURG (AP) – Premiums for health insurance through the Healthcare.gov marketplace in 2018 would rise by a much steeper rate in Pennsylvania if the federal government stops paying cost-sharing subsidies to insurers.
Antoinette Kraus of the Pennsylvania Healthcare Access Network said Friday that the Trump administration’s move to end the subsidies purposely undermines the stability of the 2010 federal health care law.
Earlier this year, insurers asked state regulators to approve an average 9 percent premium increase in 2018, assuming the federal government continued the subsidies. But Kraus says insurers proposed a 23 percent average increase without the subsidies. The Insurance Department hasn’t published final rates for 2018 yet.
Kraus says Pennsylvanians received $214 million in cost-sharing reductions last year. She says higher tax credits would make up part of the higher premiums.