Tag: Bill Carrick

The consulting firm Avalere Health and The Associated Press crunched available state data, finding that "Obamacare's" health insurance marketplaces seem to be stabilizing. The analysis found a 3.3 percent average increase in proposed or approved premiums across 47 states and Washington, D.C., for next year. This year the average increase nationally was about 30 percent. For next year, premiums are expected either to drop or increase by less than 10 percent in 41 states with about 9 million customers. The GOP tax-cut bill repealed the ACA requirement that Americans have health insurance or risk fines, effective next year. But other key elements remain, including subsidies and protection for people with pre-existing conditions. As if to add weight to Democratic arguments, the Trump administration has said it won't defend the ACA's protections for pre-existing conditions in a federal case in Texas that could put the law's fate back in the hands of the Supreme Court. She worries she could be uninsurable if insurers are allowed to go back to denying coverage for pre-existing conditions. Two new insurers — Bright Health and Celtic— have entered its marketplace, and two others —Cigna and Oscar— will expand into new counties. Tennessee Republican Sen. Lamar Alexander called that a "welcome step," but argued rates could have been even lower if congressional Democrats had supported a market stabilization bill.