The final rule aimed at stabilizing the Affordable Care Act’s health insurance exchanges doesn’t appear to have won the perception battle with insurers debating whether to participate in the marketplace.
As Bloomberg reports, insurance companies and state regulators are “struggling to set up their plans” after a failed attempt to repeal and replace the ACA and threats from President Donald Trump to let the markets “explode.” In Colorado, state insurance commissioner Marguerite Salazar said carriers like Cigna haven’t confirmed whether they’ll stay or go.
“That’s my biggest fear, is that we would lose carriers in the individual market,” Salazar said. “We don’t want to set up an environment that would tell them, well, maybe we don’t need to be here.”
The lack of clarity from the White House isn’t helping.
“We need confirmation that the (cost-sharing reduction subsidies) will continue to be paid throughout the rest of 2017 and 2018 in order for us to continue our participation,” said Sunny Yu, a spokesperson for Molina Healthcare.
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John joined TriMed in 2016, focusing on healthcare policy and regulation. After graduating from Columbia College Chicago, he worked at FM News Chicago and Rivet News Radio, and worked on the state government and politics beat for the Illinois Radio Network. Outside of work, you may find him adding to his never-ending graphic novel collection.