A day after Republicans failed yet again to repeal Obamacare, confusion sowed by President Donald Trump's opposition to the law is roiling the health-insurance market.
In many states, insurers faced a deadline of Wednesday to lock in their rates for next year under the Affordable Care Act, and some are announcing double-digit increases. Florida said Tuesday that most of its 45 percent average increase in premiums stems from the risk that the Trump administration will skip cost-sharing payments that reimburse insurers for lowering rates. Anthem Inc. said it would exit Maine, the latest state withdrawal for the one-time Obamacare stalwart.
Trump, who has repeatedly called the law a failure, has fostered doubt over how the federal government will run the ACA's individual markets. The administration has cut funding for outreach and signaled it may weaken enforcement of the law's requirement that all people have coverage or pay a fine, raising the risk that only sicker people will buy plans. Pronouncements from top administration officials that the law is collapsing could discourage enrollment.
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