2017 Health Care Reform Update - October 20, 2017

20th October 2017

The Ten Key Group will be providing our clients with ongoing updates about health care reform and what it means for taxpayers moving forward.

Last week, the Trump Administration announced that it is eliminating billions of dollars in Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies to private health insurers for low-income individuals. The White House confirmed that it would stop federal payments for cost-sharing reductions, which total $7 billion this year and are estimated to rise to $10 billion in 2018. The ACA requires insurers offering qualified health plans through the ACA Exchange to reduce deductibles, coinsurance, copayments, and similar charges for eligible, low-income individuals enrolled in these plans. These payments to insurance companies help lower deductibles for these low-income customers. There has been no announcement on when these federal payments will stop.

The Affordable Care Act is still in place, but this decision from the Trump Administration is one step to repeal or replace the law. This funding cut could result in some insurers exiting markets in the long-term. This could have an effect on the cost of premiums for individuals, but we are still waiting to see how this plays out. For now, we’ll keep an eye on how this affects taxpayers moving forward, but if you have any questions, please contact The Ten Key Group at (234) 334-1966.