Key Obamacare subsidies will continue being paid to insurers

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https://www.cnbc.com/2017/08/16/key-obamacare-subsidies-will-continue-despite-threats-by-trump.html

>The federal government will make crucial Obamacare-related subsidy payments to health insurers in August despite threats by President Donald Trump to end them, a White House spokesman said Wednesday.

>The decision to make the August payments came a day after the Congressional Budget Office warned that Obamacare premiums wouldsoar an additional 20 percent above projected price increases if the payments are ended in 2018.

>Uncertainty over whether the so-called cost-sharing reimbursements will continue has already led some insurers to exist Obamacare markets next year, or to ask for significantly higher premiums for 2018.

>After the announcement Wednesday, Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., said Congress should act soon to guarantee that the CSRs will be paid to insurers through 2018

>The CSRs, worth about $7 billion this year, compensate insurers for offering qualified low- and moderate-income Obamacare customers discounts in their their out-of-pocket health costs, including co-payments and deductibles. Those discounts are mandated by law.

>Most people who buy health coverage on HealthCare.gov and other government-run insurance marketplaces qualify for the reduced charges. Almost 6 million people qualified last year.

>Trump, peeved about the failure of his fellow Republicans in the Senate to pass an Obamacare replacement bill had threatened to end CSR payments to insurers

>But just as he has done every month since taking office, Trump on Wednesday agreed to let them continue.