If you think sociopathic con man Donald "Rump" Trump is toxic to our democracy and national security, he's just as bad when it comes to our health (and we're not even referring to his dangerous anti-environmental policies which are giving polluters new life).
Rump's ending of cost-sharing reduction (CSR) payments under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) on October 12 has forced health insurance companies to offer so-called "silver plans" to low income customers at higher rates to make up for the loss of the subsidy. According to a report by the respected Kaiser Family Foundation:
"Premiums for silver plans have particular significance in the ACA marketplace not only because they are the only plans that offer reduced cost-sharing, but also because the second-lowest cost silver plan in each area is the benchmark for tax credits provided to subsidize premiums for low and moderate income enroll."While insurance companies have some flexibility under the ACA for absorbing the Federal cuts, their planning for 2018 assumed some continuation of Federal cost-sharing for lower income people:
"For those insurers that report the impact on average across all plans – whether increases were actually applied to all plans or only to silver plans – the surcharge ranges from 0.1% to 27.2%....These results are generally consistent with a KFF estimate released in April projecting that silver marketplace premiums would have to increase by 19% on average to compensate for the loss of CSR payments, with the amount varying substantially by state." (emphasis added)Depending on each state's approach to managing the loss of CSR payments, consumers with silver plans will have to pay the increasing costs, or purchase "bronze plans" which offer little health care value. Many will simply leave the market and use hospital emergency rooms for their health care.
Whatever the cost increase and damage to families dependent on the CSR payments for their health insurance, it's totally on Rump with his malicious and vindictive gutting of the ACA regardless of the impact. It's TrumpCare now (or, as fellow blogger Gene calls it, "Trump Don't Care").
