Trump Administration Preparing Fix for Obamacare Risk Payments
(Bloomberg, 7/19/18)
As reported earlier, the administration announced that it would no longer pay insurance companies the risk-adjustment payments established by the Affordable Care Act (ACA). These payments essentially transfer funds from insurance plans with low-risk consumers to plans with higher-risk ones. The administration based its decision on a pending court case, although some observers and stakeholders disagreed about whether this was necessary. Now the administration is preparing a regulation that would resolve the issues in the lawsuit and thus allow the resumption of these payments.
To Understand How Consumers Are Faring in the Individual Health Insurance Markets, Watch the States
(Georgetown University Health Policy Institute Center on Health Insurance Reforms CHIRblog, July 20, 2018)
Through both inaction and design, federal policymakers have put the onus on states to ensure access to affordable, adequate health insurance. In a new work for The Commonwealth Fund, Georgetown researchers are launching an interactive map that will track and describe state actions likely to affect residents’ access to individual market coverage.
Encourage confidence to act