FACT SHEET: President Trump’s Sabotage of Americans’ Health Care Is Increasing Americans’ Costs and Reducing Their Choices

From the House Democratic Leader's Press Office

September 29, 2017

President Trump's Sabotage of Americans' Health Care Is Increasing Americans' Costs and Reducing Their Choices

President's Threats to Cut Off Key ACA Payments Have Hurt Millions of Americans, Causing Uncertainty, That Has Led to Proposed Higher Premiums and Fewer Choices for 2018

The Sabotage Continues; Yesterday, It Was Announced that the Administration Has Suddenly Ordered the 10 HHS Regional Directors Not to Participate in Open Enrollment Events for 2018

GOP Effort to Repeal and Replace ACA Has Collapsed Once Again, And Yet the Sabotage Continues

*From day one, President Trump and his Administration have cynically worked to sabotage Americans' health care for their partisan political ends. Even now after the collapse of GOP efforts to repeal the ACA for the year on Tuesday, the Trump Administration has spitefully continued to take aggressive steps to sabotage health care and raise health costs.

The American Public Doesn't Support President Trump's Sabotage

*Families need the health law to succeed, but President Trump openly seeks and roots for the collapse of Americans' health care - declaring "let Obamacare implode." Republicans are hurting hard-working families for cheap political ends, and the American people aren't pleased:

*64 percent of American voters, in a Peter Hart Research poll, say that it is true that "President Trump is playing politics with people's health care."

*68 percent of American voters - including 86 percent of Democrats, 75 percent of Independents, and 45 percent of Republicans - agree that "President Trump and the Republicans in Congress need to put politics aside and take the necessary steps to make sure individuals have access to affordable health insurance under the Affordable Care Act."

*83 percent of American voters agree that "If there are still problems occurring a year from now in terms of premium increases and insurance companies no longer offering plans under the Affordable Care Act, Republicans in Congress will bear the responsibility."

Despite President Trump, Independent Analyses Show That Affordable Care Act Has Been Working

*The CDC recently reaffirmed that the ACA has cut the uninsured rate to the lowest on record at 8.8 percent on Homeland - with the rate being cut almost in half - from 16.3 percent in 2010 to 8.8 percent in 2017.

*The average premium in the Marketplaces increased by $1 dollar, from $100 in 2016 to $101 in 2017.

*Currently, 10.3 million people are signed up for coverage in the Marketplaces.

But President Trump and His Administration Are Doing Everything They Can to Sabotage the Marketplaces

*President Trump continues to threaten to cut off cost sharing reduction payments that help reduce out-of-pocket costs for individuals, which the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said would increase premiums by 20 percent in2018 and 25 percent in 2020.

*He has slashed in half the amount of time when people are able to sign up for health insurance under the ACA.

*He has slashed funding to help make sure people are able to access enrollment in health coverage for 2018, cutting funding for Navigators by 41 percent and cutting enrollment advertising by 90 percent.

*He has made deep cuts in funding for Healthcare.gov - the website people use to sign up for insurance under the Aca - knowing that these cuts would make the website less reliable and less easy to use.

*After having cut the enrollment period in half, the Administration has now announced that Healthcare.gov will be shut down part of almost every Sunday of Open Enrollment.

*And yesterday, HHS ordered all 10 HHS Regional Directors not to participate in Open Enrollment events this year, despite their past participation. Roy Mitchell, director of Mississippi Health Advocacy Program, told BuzzFeed, "I didn't call it sabotage [in his public statement]. But that's what it is."

*These Administration actions to depress enrollment in 2018 will lead directly to higher premiums for those who do enroll.

State Insurance Commissioners, Experts and Insurers Agree that President Trump's Sabotage Is Raising Costs

*Brad Wilson, CEO, BlueCross BlueShield North Carolina: "The failure of the Administration and the House to bring certainty and clarity by funding CSRs has caused our company to file a 22.9 percent premium increase, rather than one that is materially lower. The rate increase would be 8.8 percent if the CSRs were guaranteed for 2018." [6/1/17]

*Dr. Mario Molina, Former CEO, Molina Healthcare: "The Administration and Republicans in Congress want you to believe that insurers raising premiums for their plans or existing the Marketplaces altogether are consequences of the design of the Affordable Care Act instead of the direct results of their own actions to sabotage the law. Don't let them fool you." [5/30/17]

*State-Based Marketplace Directors: "States and issuers require certainty over the future of CSR payments.... The Federal Government must commit to funding CSR payments in order to lower rates and stabilize carrier participation." [8/30/17}

*Teresa Miller, Then-Pennsylvania Insurance Commissioner: "Failing to make payments to insurers for cost-sharing reductions would force insurers to request a statewide average 20.3 percent increase rather than the 8.8 percent statewide average that was filed with the Department in May." [7/31/17]

*Mike Kreider, Washington State Insurance Commissioner: "The current Federal Administration's actions - such as not committing to reimbursing insurers for cost-sharing subsidies and not enforcing the individual mandate - appear focused only on destabilizing the insurance market." [6/19/17]

*Danielle Devine, Michigan Dir. of Operations, Meridian Health Plan: "[A Meridian official said its official 2018 rate increase request with cost-sharing subsidies intact is 8.3 percent, but it jumps to 59.4 percent without the subsidies.] The political climate continues to make it difficult to price and the uncertainty over the future of the subsidies creates the largest reason for significant rate increases." [6/14/17]

*Oliver Wyman Actuarial Consulting: "Our modeling shows that this uncertainty [about CSR payments], if it remains, could lead payers to submit rate increases between 28 and 40 percent, and more than two-thirds of those increases will be related to the uncertainty around CRS payments and the individual mandate." [6/14/17]

Rather Than Sabotage, The American Public Wants Bipartisan Action to Stabilize the Marketplaces and Lower Consumers' Health Care Costs

*The American people want Congress to build on the Affordable Care Act and make the necessary improvements to make it work better. Democrats continue to urge Republicans to join us in bipartisan solutions to stabilize the Marketplaces and halt the Trump Administration's sabotage campaign.

* The American public is demanding that, instead of continuing to talk about repeal, Republicans should be working with Democrats to make improvements in the ACA, in order to bring down premiums, expand choices of insurers, and increase the number of people with health coverage.

*President Trump and his Administration must stop the sabotage and instead work with Democrats and Republicans in the Congress to pass measures that will strengthen the stability of the Marketplaces.