Of Course Insurance Markets Are Unstable – The Trump Administration and Republicans Want That and Are Causing That

Extra Added Attraction – Blame It on Democrats

Republicans are fond of saying that ACA is a disaster and is falling apart.  Here for example is a Blue Cross Blue Shield situation in North Carolina.

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of N.C. wants permission to raise premiums by an average 22.9 percent on individual Affordable Care Act insurance plans for 2018.

The insurer said Thursday it has plans to cover all 100 counties — if it decides to offer the plans at all.

“Our filing does not guarantee our participation in offering plans,” said Brian Tajlili, the insurer’s director of actuarial and pricing services.

Wow, pretty serious stuff.  Of course even if the rate increase went through most consumers would not see it that much because of subsidies in ACA, an inconvenient fact Republicans leave out.  But why is this happening?  Well there is this.

“The undecided future of the ACA makes it hard for insurance companies to prepare for 2018, and could impact whether or not Blue Cross NC can offer plans.”

And this,

Blue Cross said “the lack of funding for cost-sharing reduction payments drove the majority (60 percent) of the requested increase.” Without the uncertainty, the insurer said the average increase would have been 8.8 percent.

“We are still required to offer the additional cost-sharing reduction benefits to participate in the exchange, so covering these costs without (the federal subsidies) will drive up our average rate for next year,” Tajlili said.

And why does the uncertainty on cost sharing reduction payments exist?  Oh, Republicans are suing the government to stop them even though they are mandated by law.