CMS Administrator Seema Verma said the blame for rising premiums and fewer insurers in the Affordable Care Act (ACA) exchanges fall on the prior administration, not the current one, while offering a mixed message on the American Health Care Act (AHCA), the ACA replacement that passed the House earlier in May.

In an interview with USA Today, Verma said the exchanges are “falling apart.”

“Right now, if we look at it, this is all because of the Affordable Care Act," she said. “I mean, the individual market was working much better than it is now, so this is all the impact of the Affordable Care Act.”

Insurers are again requesting double-digit hikes in premiums for 2018, but have put the blame on uncertainty created by the Trump administration not guaranteeing support for cost-sharing reduction (CSR) subsidies that go to insurance companies. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina spelled out the financial impact of that uncertainty, saying it’s requesting a 22.9 percent average increase in premiums for 2018 because of it. If the CSRs were funded, it said it would request only a 8.8 percent hike.

Verma also disputed the recent Congressional Budget Office (CBO) report on the Republican-sponsored AHCA. She called past CBO estimates on insurance coverage “problematic,” but also said the House bill isn’t as important because the legislation is very likely to be changed by the Senate.

“Really, the House version is something that's outdated at this point," Verma said.

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