Trump restores cost-sharing reduction payments for now after massive outcry over market destabilization
Budget Director Mulvaney said Trump is continuing the payments for now, no guarantee the funding will continue in May.
White House officials have told Democrats that President Trump will continue to fund the cost-sharing reduction payments insurers say are needed to stabilize the Affordable Care Act market and to keep premiums affordable for consumers.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi confirmed the news Wednesday afternoon, according to Politico.
Trump is trying to get funding for the wall along the Mexican border into a spending bill and is working against a Friday deadline for a government shutdown. There may be a one-week extension as Congress hammers out a deal.
Pelosi has said she can't support a spending bill that doesn't include the CSRs, because they help low-income consumers get healthcare coverage. Cost-sharing reduction payments allow insurers to give low-income consumers who buy plans on the exchanges lower deductibles and out-of-pocket costs.
The solution is a status quo, paying for the CSR subsidies outside of the Congressional spending process, Politico said.
However, Budget Director Mick Mulvaney reportedly said while Trump is continuing the payments for now, there is no decision on whether the funding will continue in May.
If CSRs are being used as political leverage, it gives insurers no guarantee the funding will continue as they seek stabilization to set their premium rates for 2018.
Anthem CEO Joseph Swedish said during an earnings call this week that without CSRs, it is estimated that premium rates would increase by at least 20 percent.
Anthem is moving forward setting the rates on the assumption that the CSRs would continue, Swedish said, but if the funding is pulled, the insurer could raise premiums, cut benefits, and/or leave ACA markets.
[Also: Nation's insurance commissioners tell Congress to support CSR payments]
The CSR funding rests with the president, as Trump has the power to pull an appeal of a court decision that ruled against the payments. The court agreed with Republican leadership that brought the case that Congress never approved the money for the CSR payments. The appeal was brought by President Obama. The case is on hold, with a status update scheduled for May 22.
Twitter: @SusanJMorse
