Whether Obamacare policies will receive federal subsidies remains unknown

Wyoming Tribune-Eagle (Cheyenne, WY)

Sept. 15--CHEYENNE -- With six weeks to go until open enrollment starts, there still is no answer from Washington, D.C., about whether Obamacare premiums for next year will include a discount.

"The cost-sharing reduction is still a matter of debate in Washington, D.C.," Wendy Curran of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Wyoming said Thursday.

She was one of four panelists who talked about health insurance and health care at a program sponsored by the League of Women Voters of Cheyenne.

Other speakers were Eric Boley, president of the Wyoming Hospital Association; Jan Cartwright, director of the Wyoming Primary Care Association; and Sam Shumway, state director of AARP in Wyoming.

A cost-sharing reduction is a subsidy from the federal government that reduces what a person pays for deductibles, co-pays and other costs through the Affordable Care Act. Those eligible for discounts qualify based on their incomes.

"The CSR payments for 2018 are unknown," Curran said, speaking to 30 people who attended the session.

The Trump administration has threatened to eliminate such subsidies, but hasn't done so yet.

"The problem this year has been instability," Curran said of the uncertainty with the program.

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Wyoming is the sole insurance provider of plans on the health insurance exchange in the state. The insurance exchange is a virtual marketplace where people can buy policies.

A policy on the exchange in Wyoming will have about a 48 percent increase for 2018, Curran said.

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Wyoming is required to file its insurance rates for review by the federal government at the end of May.

But no one at the federal level had a good idea then of what was going to happen and still don't today, Curran said.

Most people wouldn't feel the full effect of a 48 percent rate increase because the hike would be offset by subsidy payments, she said.

The uncertainty with the federal insurance program contributed to 12 to 13 percent of the rate increase from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Wyoming, Curran said.

Another 6 to 7 percent of the rate increase came about because it's unlikely that the government will enforce a mandate that requires everyone to have health insurance, she said.

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Wyoming has 130,000 insurees in the state, she said.

In another issue, Eric Boley said Wyoming hospitals are all over the board regarding their financial conditions.

While some are flourishing, several hospitals with 25 beds or less are struggling, he said.

Certain parts of the federal health insurance program have been good, Boley said. But as far as Wyoming hospitals are concerned, the insurance hasn't been a big boon for anyone, he added.

"We do see people with coverage, but they are going in the hospitals with high deductibles and high out-of-pocket maximums that they have to meet before insurance kicks in," he said.

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