Key ObamaCare subsidies to insurers will be paid this month, the White House confirmed to The Hill on Wednesday, one day before the deadline to make July’s cost-sharing reduction (CSR) payments.
The administration has not made a commitment beyond this month.
The payments help low-income people afford the co-pays, deductibles and other out-of-pocket costs associated with health insurance policies. Insurers have called the payments critical, saying that without them, they would have to massively increase premiums or exit the individual market.
{mosads}With Senate Republicans scrambling to find a path forward after their ObamaCare repeal-and-replace effort collapsed this week, ending the CSR payments would be a major power play from the administration.
Should the subsidies end, the insurance markets would likely be thrown into chaos, which could bolster claims from Senate Republicans and President Trump that ObamaCare is failing.
Many insurers are already unsure about whether they will participate in the ObamaCare market in 2018.