BRIEF: Wisconsin submits reinsurance proposal to feds

April 19--Wisconsin on Wednesday submitted a proposal for a reinsurance program on the Affordable Care Act marketplace to the federal government.

Gov. Scott Walker said the $200 million plan, including $166 million from the federal government and $34 million from state Medicaid savings, would reduce premiums by nearly 11 percent next year from what they otherwise would have been. That would result in a 5 percent decrease compared to this year, he said.

Premiums went up an average of about 40 percent this year for the 225,000 or so people who use the marketplace, though the vast majority of them get government subsidies that mask the increases. About 75,000 people had to find other plans because their insurers left the marketplace.

The reinsurance program, similar to plans approved in Alaska, Minnesota and Oregon, would pay insurers for about half of the amount of medical claims of between $50,000 and $250,000.

Walker and J.P. Wieske, deputy insurance commissioner, said they expect the federal government to approve the program in time for it to begin Jan. 1.

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