Insurance companies: "The Trump administration is making Obamacare more expensive"

Insurance companies are warning that uncertainty in the health insurance marketplace – resulting directly from the Trump Administration's actions (or inaction) – is going to make premiums more expensive for Americans and their families. Insurance companies from states across the country said that uncertainty around whether or not the Administration will enforce the individual shared responsibility provision or pay the Cost Sharing Reduction (CSR) subsidies is resulting in large double-digit rate hikes and "the beginning of a death spiral." These proposed rate hikes should be no surprise to the President, as the Democratic Leaders of the House and Senate sent him a letter in March outlining actions the Administration must take to stabilize the marketplaces.

Carefirst, a BlueCross BlueShield Plan in the D.C. metro area:

"We were hoping for more stability this year… But these factors have lead [sic] to instability, and the beginning of a death spiral."

"The current approach at the federal level has been to say they're not going to enforce [the individual shared responsibility provision]… We think the effect of that is to encourage healthy people not to enroll." Consequently, Burrell told Vox that "it tacked an extra 15 percent onto its premiums because it does not expect the Trump administration to enforce the individual mandate."

Blue Shield of California:

"'It's pretty clear we need more certainty to be able to file the rates assuming we get [the Cost Sharing Reduction subsidy] payments… Short of that, we'd have to assume they're not being paid.' Markovich says that his plan is currently preparing different rates to respond to different scenarios that could play out. The hard part will be choosing which one to submit, if the Trump administration does not provide further clarity."

New Mexico Health Connections:

"Uncertainty breeds higher costs. We have to plan for the worst case scenario until it finally gets decided. We have a lot of things to focus on, we're grinding out hours over rates, and it doesn't help that people are running around with zombie bills."

Evergreen Health of Maryland:

"Evergreen Health, a small insurance plan in Maryland, wrote in government rate filings that uncertainty around the individual mandate and other policy issues was the ‘primary driver' of its requested 27 percent premium increase."

Even BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee, who announced today that they would be offering plans in Knoxville next year stated that:

Due to "federal legislative and/or regulatory changes," they will likely need to increase premiums"until stability can be achieved." "These risks include but are not limited to the elimination of Cost Sharing Reduction subsidies (CSRs)" and "the removal of the individual mandate."