Trump to make ObamaCare payments to insurers for August

The Trump administration will make key ObamaCare payments to insurers for the month of August, according to a White House spokesman.

Insurers have been asking Congress and the administration for certainty that they’ll continue to receive cost-sharing reduction payments (CSRs), which compensate insurers for subsidizing the out-of-pocket costs for low-income enrollees.

Instead, the administration has been making the payments on a monthly basis, which total $7 billion for fiscal 2017. President Trump has threatened to end the payments, saying ObamaCare is on track to “implode.”

{mosads}Senate Health Committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) has said he would like to include funding for CSRs in a bipartisan, short-term stabilization bill for ObamaCare. The panel will begin hearings on stabilizing the marketplace the first week of September.

Additionally, an update is due Sunday in a court case that went against the administration. Trump could drop the appeal, which could halt the payments. The case has been delayed for months, and it’s possible another delay could occur.

An analysis from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office released Tuesday said insurance companies would raise premium prices about 20 percent in 2018 for mid-level ObamaCare plans if Trump ends these payments. This is assuming insurers knew by the end of August that the payments would end after December, CBO staff said.