8/10/2017

HEALTHCARE/OBAMACARE(ACA)/PHARMA/TAXES: “Insurers are making final decisions about their Obamacare rates for next year. So far, it looks as if many of them will be building in an uncertainty tax…
Two themes stick out: One is that, while insurance premiums will rise substantially in many cities, the increases are generally not bigger than they were last year. The other is that insurers are being quite explicit about citing the Trump administration’s hostile policy messages as a substantial reason for the higher prices.
In many states, insurers have said that they are asking for higher prices because they assume the White House won’t enforce the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate, its rule that people who can afford it must buy insurance or pay a tax penalty. The carriers are also worried that the government will stop paying them cost-sharing reduction subsidies, payments that are the subject of a lawsuit between the executive branch and the House, and which the president has repeatedly threatened to halt.
The insurers don’t agree how big the uncertainty tax should be, but in some cases it’s hefty. CareFirst BlueChoice in Virginia, for example, says worries about mandate enforcement have led it to increase rates by 20 percent. Its overall rate increase proposal is 21.5 percent.”

-Margot Sanger-Katz, “Obamacare Premiums Are Set to Rise. Thank Policy Uncertainty.,” The New York Times online, Aug. 10, 2017