Affordable Care Act insurers are facing a fresh round of uncertainty that could drive up premiums or push companies to stop offering coverage, after the Trump administration’s latest move to cut off subsidies that help stabilize insurance markets.
The U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said this last weekend that a months-old federal court ruling would force it to suspend what are known as risk-adjustment payments, worth about $10.4 billion for 2017. The payments are part of a program in the Affordable Care Act to help balance the insurance markets when some insurers inevitably get stuck with sicker, more costly patients. (read more)