In his continuing effort to dismantle President Obama's legacy out of vindictiveness, narcissistic and mentally unstable Donald "Rump" Trump is freezing billions of dollars in "risk adjustment" payments under the Affordable Care Act, payments which serve to compensate insurers for high-cost patients. Funds for the payments do not derive from taxes, but are paid into a risk pool by insurers themselves.
Rump's administration is freezing the payments ostensibly over a New Mexico court ruling last February which questioned the rules governing the payments. However, a Massachusetts court upheld the payments. Reactions to the move pointed out that the delay in risk adjustment payments would disrupt an already fragile health insurance market, introducing more uncertainty at a time when insurers are setting future premium levels, and for next year's enrollment season. Said the health insurance industry's trade group America's Health Insurance Plans in a statement:
"This decision comes at a critical time when insurance providers are developing premiums for 2019 and states are reviewing rates. This decision will have serious consequences for millions of consumers who get their coverage through small businesses or buy coverage on their own."The President and CEO of Blue Cross Blue Shield Association Scott Serota was more blunt:
“This action will significantly increase 2019 premiums for millions of individuals and small business owners and could result in far fewer health plan choices. It will undermine Americans’ access to affordable coverage, particularly those who need medical care the most."Rump is indifferent to the suffering this action will mean to millions of Americans, many of whom he's conned into believing he's on their side. His overriding obsession is to deface and dismantle the legacy of a man who was not only a far superior President and American, but a far superior man. That knowledge eats Rump alive, and all he can do is destroy in a jealous rage.
