Tuesday, January 09, 2018

Health Insurer Sues Trump Admin Over Slashed Subsidies For Low-Income Patients

By ALICE OLLSTEIN Published JANUARY 8, 2018 3:45 PM

In the wake of a surprisingly robust open enrollment period, the small health insurance co-op Maine Community Health Options (MCHO) became the first insurer in the country to sue the Trump administration over millions in subsidies that the federal government cut off in October.

The text of the Affordable Care Act, MCHO argued, guarantees the cost-sharing reduction (CSR) payments to insurance companies to compensate them for having to accept patients regardless of their health status. Following the Trump administration’s move to terminate the payments, insurers still have to provide the subsidies to low-income enrollees, but they no longer get reimbursed. A December report from Maine’s Bureau of Insurance says MCHO lost $1.9 million in October alone due to the loss of the CSRs, and the company’s lawsuit says it lost out on at least $5.6 million for the remainder of 2017.

Read more
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/health-insurer-sues-trump-admin-over-slashed-subsidies-for-low-income-patients

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