An unstable marketplace, that’s the fear for CEO of BlueCross BlueShield, Dave Anderson.
As Congress debates the American Healthcare Act on Capitol Hill, healthcare leaders here in Buffalo are worried about an approaching deadline that could cause some families to lose coverage.
He’s concerned some Western New Yorkers might not have health plan options next year. He said, “That’s not what we want to have happen. I think we have to be thoughtful about the next steps we take, but that’s what keeps me up at night.”
He says, what’s at risk is called, “cost sharing reductions” that are not included in the federal budget. In their recent bill to repeal the Affordable Care Act, the GOP hoped to eliminate them entirely.
Anderson said, “That was not apportioned in the original bill and because of that, that is the piece that prior to the election, the republican party sued the federal government. They said money was not apportioned and should not be paid.”
The Affordable Care Act requires insurers to reduce deductibles and other out-of-pocket costs for lower income families. Through Cost sharing reductions, the government compensates insurance companies for those discounts. Seven million people nationwide qualified for CSRs, which makes up about 58 percent of the people signing up for plans.
Anderson said, “It will cause premiums for those lower income families to go up significantly in 2018. And when I say significantly, I mean probably north of 20 percent.”
Not knowing whether CSRs will be included in the budget puts leaders like Anderson in a bind. He said, “If it is not there, how much more do we have to increase our rates? It would be substantial, and then we would have to file rates at that much higher level because we don’t know.”
They could also choose to withdraw from serving people who depend on CSRs.
Anderson said, “Without the appropriate funding under the CSRs, what it really will do is destabilize the entire marketplace.”
Anderson says it needs to be included in the federal spending bill- which has a deadline of April 28th.
He’s meeting with Congressman Chris Collins, and Co-Author of the American Healthcare Act, Chris Collins, Wednesday afternoon to fight for this to be included.
Date: April 10, 2017