The Trump regime's decision to punt on payments to health insurers in the Obamacare markets is continuing to mess up the individual insurance market, and the next rate hikes and instability in that market—on and off of the Obamacare exchanges—are squarely the fault of Trump and the Republicans says the whole healthcare industry, but especially health insurers.
An alliance of health insurers, doctors and employers are urging the Trump administration and Congress to fund cost-sharing subsidies for millions of Americans under the Affordable Care Act. Politico reported Friday that Trump is telling “advisers he wants to end key Obamacare subsidies.” […]
“There now is clear evidence that this uncertainty is undermining the individual insurance market for 2018 and stands to negatively impact millions of people,” several powerful groups representing hospitals, doctors, patients, insurance companies and U.S. employers wrote in a letter to Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and GOP Majority Whip John Cornyn of Texas.
Now that the regime has announced it will punt for another 90 days before making a final decision on the payments, the industry is blasting it for continuing to play this sabotage game.
Insurers responded to the administration’s delay by emphasizing how the uncertainty has been harming the health insurance market.
“We need swift action and long-term certainty on this critical program,” Cathryn Donaldson, a spokeswoman for America’s Health Insurance Plans, the industry’s main trade group, said in a statement. “It is the single most destabilizing factor in the individual market, and millions of Americans could soon feel the impact of fewer choices, higher costs and reduced access to care.”
The blame is going to fall squarely on Trump and the Republicans for playing this game—an extremely deep-pocketed healthcare industry will make certain of that. It's not going to be a hard case to make to the American public, the large majority of which already says that Trump and the Republicans will own the mess that they are creating out of Obamacare.