Propping up the health insurance industry and protecting policyholders has been a fragile balancing act that usually results in increasing premium hikes for already struggling families. And it looks like it’s about to get worse.
Senate and House Republicans on Monday released their latest plan to stabilize the Affordable Care Act’s insurance markets, which they roiled last year with cuts, calling for new federal money to offset the cost of treating the sickest patients and restores insurer subsidies. But they also added a poison pill for Democrats with restriction on consumers who buy their own insurance from policies that could include abortion coverage.
The double digit premium increases over the past few years, along with growing co-pays and deductibles have already essentially rendered millions who have insurance unable to use their insurance. The current stalemate will only worsen that trend. According to Covered California, statewide average premium increases in 2019, absent federal policies to stabilize these markets, could range from 15.6 to 30.2 percent.
The newest proposal also Republican demands for stronger “conscience” protections for clinicians, and, from Democratic, protections for family planning money for Planned Parenthood clinics, which provide birth control for many low-income women.
This comes in the wake of President Trump’s push for loosening Obamacare rules on essential benefits and other protections. One is allowing short-term plans, which would further the insurance market and drive up costs for sicker Americans who need health plans that offer a full set of benefits, such as prescription drugs, maternity care or mental health and substance abuse services.
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