Trump Administration Takes Another Swipe At Obamacare

July 08--The Trump administration announced Saturday it will temporarily suspend a program meant to stabilize Obamacare markets by halting billion of dollars in payouts to insurance companies.

The federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services -- known by the abbreviation CMS -- will temporarily stop so-called "risk-adjustment payments" used to steady Obamacare health insurance premiums.

Risk-adjustment payments are one way the Affordable Care Act -- Obamacare's formal name -- stabilizes health insurance prices.

The payments work this way: The government takes money from insurers with healthier, low-risk customers, and gives it to insurers with less-healthy, higher-risk customers.

A federal judge in New Mexico ruled in February that the government's formula for calculating the transfers was flawed and inadequately justified by regulators.

"We were disappointed by the court's recent ruling," said CMS Administrator Seema Verma.

"As a result of this litigation, billions of dollars in risk-adjustment payments and collections are now on hold," Verma said. "CMS has asked the court to reconsider its ruling, and hopes for a prompt resolution that allows CMS to prevent more adverse impacts on Americans who receive their insurance in the individual and small group markets."

The The Wall Street Journal first reported the move.

The risk-adjustment program was meant to prevent insurers from gaming the system and targeting low-risk customers to keep costs down.

America's Health Insurance Plans, a trade organization representing health insurers, blasted the suspension of the payments.

"We are very discouraged by the new market disruption brought about by the decision to freeze risk-adjustment payments," the group said.

President Trump has repeatedly vowed to dismantle Obamacare and has pushed Republicans in Congress to pass legislation to gut the Affordable Care Act.

Trump has remained committed to taking apart his predecessor's cornerstone despite an embarrassing inability to garner enough votes on Capitol Hill for full repeal.

Trump has succeeded in stripping away the individual mandate that penalized Americans for not having health insurance and has made other moves, including ending cost-sharing payments that helped lower-income enrollees pay for coverage. Insurers have indicated that they will have no choice but to hike premiums next year.

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