Insurers boost rates 7 to 38 percent after loss of CSR payments

Some companies did not adjust their rates at all, while others increased premiums for all ACA-compliant individual market policies across the board, both inside and outside the marketplace. (Photo: Shutterstock)

Donald Trump’s decision to halt cost-sharing reduction payments to insurers providing coverage on the Affordable Care Act exchanges was one of the key factors sparking insurers’ decision to boost rates, which have risen anywhere fom 7 to 38 percent, according to an analysis by the Kaiser Family Foundation.

Repeated threats by Trump since his inauguration to end the controversial CSRs, say the analysis, made insurers wary that he might actually do so. In addition, his refusal to see that the individual mandate was enforced made them even more nervous—so they planned rate hikes for 2018 to compensate. Without the CSRs or mandate enforcement, they stood to lose some serious money on policies covering the poorest and sickest of customers.