Trump health chief defends suspending ObamaCare payments

The president's campaign has taken aim at the remaining fig leaves of reform in the health care legislation voted into law in 2010. Sign up today to get healthcare news and updates delivered to your inbox and read on the go.

In announcing a more than 70 percent funding cut from a year ago, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said in a notice that the marketplace navigator groups should be able to "stretch their funding further" with less demand for in-person assistance because the marketplace is more familiar to most Americans.

If you're been buying insurance through the Affordable Care Act exchanges, here's more news you need to know.

Since Republican campaigns to kill Obamacare failed in Congress a year ago, the Trump administration has been taking every opportunity to sabotage the Affordable Care Act.

While imperfect, the risk adjustment program "has helped promote market stability over the past five years", Wehrle said. Federal health officials are required each year to calculate which insurers with relatively low-priced consumers must chip in to a fund, and which ones with more expensive customers are owed money. "ORCRP001017-topic.html" class="local_link" >Anthem Inc. and Cigna Corp., referred to the AHIP statement when asked about the impact of the federal payment interruption. The judge was ruling in a case filed by a small nonprofit, which argued that the program's formula disproportionately favored big insurers.

Citing two conflicting federal court cases on the use of statewide average premiums in its decision, CMS said it can not collect or redistribute funds for risk-adjusted payments. In a surprise weekend announcement, the Trump administration temporarily suspended $10 billion worth of 2017 "risk adjustment payments". About 20 million Americans have received health insurance coverage through the program.

Last year's cut compelled navigators to put off employees, cancel occasions, and, sometimes, stop operations entirely. The fund would be separate from the federal risk adjustment payments and could allow the insurers to reduce their requested rate increases by as much as 30 percent. The Maryland Insurance Administration has a hearing scheduled for July 31.

The cost of any increase in premiums that results from the risk adjustment payments may come from taxpayer dollars.

Technically, the administration has only suspended risk adjustment payments, not permanently ended them. In addition, both President Donald Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell have, in the past, supported the idea that insurers should not consider preexisting conditions when delivering coverage. "This comes at a time when the market was looking really strong for 2019, and insurers were coming off a very profitable year". This brand new cut will depart navigators with only a portion of the money they had available for its open registration periods that happened during President Barack Obama's government - in most likelihood hampering their capacity to help customers during the complicated process of choosing a medical insurance plan and applying for financial aid. "In general, when there's uncertainty in the market, insurers will cushion themselves however they can", she said.