How insurance markets could survive an ACA repeal

Supporters of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) have warned repealing the law could “unravel” the individual and small group insurance markets within months, but subsidies may be able to stabilize health plans in the short-term.

The Washington Post reports that unlike major medical associations, insurers haven’t been loudly advocating for what form an ACA repeal can or should take. What they expect is the Republican-controlled Congress will turn to one of the more expensive parts of the law to keep insurance markets afloat: subsidies and tax credits to help pay insurance premiums while a replacement plan is debated.

“Ideally, we’d all like to know what the future holds—everyone wants to know what’s coming," said Molina Healthcare CEO J. Mario Molina. "I hope that there's at least a transition period of two or three years, so that we can very thoughtfully work on reform and the Republicans will take the lessons to be learned from the Affordable Care Act and apply those to the next version."

For more on why even conservative groups are warning about the harm a “repeal-and-delay” strategy could have on the insurance market, read the full article below: