As April 30 draws closer, payers have to decide whether or not they'll offer plans through the ACA marketplace, Bloomberg reports.
Here's what you should know:
1. President Donald Trump and his administration unsettled payers with repeated threats of ACA repeal. The Republicans' first attempt, the American Health Care Act, was not called to the House floor after preliminary polling showed the proposal failing.
2. Payers are threatening to leave the exchanges, while others are saying they'll greatly increase premiums if they stay.
3. State insurance regulators haven't received responses leaning either way. In Washington, Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler delayed the reporting date a month, to convince insurers to stay.
4. President Trump brought the uncertain environment after his repeated threats to the ACA. His latest threat was to stop subsidizing co-pays for low income Americans. Analysts expect the removal of such subsidies would force payers to drastically raise premiums or withdraw from the ACA marketplaces entirely.
5. A spokesperson for the industry group America’s Health Insurance Plans Kristine Grow said to Bloomberg the industry is taking a wait and see approach. "Plans really need certainty," she said.
6. Several payers did not comment to Bloomberg, however Molina Healthcare issued a comment saying its 2018 decision is largely going to be based on the subsidies.
A Molina spokesperson said to Bloomberg, "We need confirmation that the [cost-sharing reduction payments] will continue to be paid throughout the rest of 2017 and 2018 in order for us to continue our participation."