White House action raises insurance rates in Oregon

Trump’s action would halt $49 million worth of payments to Oregon insurance firms.

  • By ANDREW SELSKY Associated Press
  • Friday, October 13, 2017 5:27pm
  • Northwest

By Andrew Selsky / Associated Press

SALEM, Ore. — Oregon’s business regulator Friday ordered health insurance companies linked to the Affordable Care Act to increase rates to some of their customers in 2018 because President Donald Trump halted payments to insurers under the Obama-era health care law, a move that several states including Oregon said they’d fight in court.

Trump’s action would halt $49 million worth of cost-sharing reduction payments by the federal government to Oregon insurance companies, according to Oregon’s Department of Consumer and Business Services.

Jean Straight, acting director of the agency, said Friday that while Oregonians’ 2017 plan rates and benefits won’t change through the end of this year, some will see increases in 2018 to compensate for Trump’s action.

“These rate increases are necessary to ensure the stability of the health insurance market,” Straight said.

The agency said in a statement: “In order to ensure carriers can continue to offer coverage in Oregon, DCBS is ordering health insurance companies offering plans on HealthCare.gov to increase their already approved silver metal tier 2018 plan rates by 7.1 percent.”

There are about 117,000 enrollees in silver plans, though not every one of those plans will increase, said agency spokesman Jake Sunderland. Silver metal tier plans are the only plans that have cost-sharing reductions. The CSRs, as they’re known, are offered to middle-income consumers and have lower maximum out-of-pocket limits, deductibles, co-pays, and co-insurance. About 50,000 Oregonians were enrolled in cost-sharing reduction plans. It was not immediately clear how many Oregonians would be subjected to the rate increase, or what the average dollar amounts would be.

Those under the bronze and gold plans will remain unaffected, the agency said.

Health insurance companies that sell plans on HealthCare.gov — the website created as part of former President Obama’s Affordable Care Act where people can buy insurance plans and get financial assistance — can still sell plans off of HealthCare.gov. If the carrier participates on HealthCare.gov, they will have to increase silver plan rates, Sunderland said.

Rosenblum blasted Trump’s action as “a rash, ill-conceived decision that will have a devastating impact on many vulnerable Oregonians.”

“These ACA subsidies are a vital funding source that keep insurance premiums manageable,” Rosenblum said in a statement.

“Oregon, along with 15 other states, is joining California’s lawsuit against the President — defending ACA payments that help many families access affordable health insurance,” she said.

The White House says the government cannot legally continue to pay the cost-sharing subsidies because they lack a formal authorization by Congress. Trump said Friday the subsidies are “almost a payoff” to insurance companies to lift their stock prices instead of helping low-income people afford premiums.

But several attorneys general say Trump is not following federal law in ending a legally mandated system that already is operating.

Talk to us

More in Northwest

Breadson John, 8, was found safe in Missouri on Wednesday, Feb. 21, after going missing from Vancouver in June 2022. (FBI)
Vancouver boy, 8, missing since June, found in Missouri

Breadson John was found safe in Jasper County Missouri after being missing for 8 months.

Logo for news use, for stories regarding Washington state government — Olympia, the Legislature and state agencies. No caption necessary. 20220331
Washington moves to end child sex abuse lawsuit time limits

House Bill 1618 would remove time limits that have stymied lawsuits who frequently do not fully confront childhood trauma until years later.

In this image provided by John Odegard, firefighters in Seattle douse flames at a marina on Lake Union, near the city's University District, early on Wednesday, March 22, 2023. The fire burned 30 boats on a dry-rack storage facility, and a man found hiding in one vessel was arrested for investigation of arson, authorities said. (John Odegard via AP)
Fire at Seattle marina burns 30 boats on dry rack storage

A man found hiding in one vessel was arrested for investigation of arson, authorities said.

NO CAPTION. Logo to accompany news of Seattle.
Deputy shot, wounded in Seattle during eviction, 1 dead

A King County Sheriff’s deputy was shot Monday and a person inside the residence was later found dead.

NO CAPTION. Logo to accompany news of Washington state.
Man pleads guilty to stalking Washington state lawmaker

Isaiah Long, 34, of Bremerton, pleaded guilty to two counts of felony stalking Rep. Michelle Caldier.

X
Amtrak restores full daily train service to Vancouver, B.C.

Amtrak has restarted direct trips between Portland, Oregon and Vancouver, British Columbia.

Leonard Cobb, co-founder of state’s first Medic One, dies at 96

An incident more than 60 years ago helped prompt creation of the groundbreaking emergency medical service.

A Value Village store is seen Tuesday, Dec. 12, 2017, in Edmonds, Wash. The company that operates 300 Value Village, Savers and other thrift stores in the U.S., Canada and Australia is suing Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson, saying his office has violated its rights by demanding $3.2 million to settle a three-year investigation. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)
Court rejects deception charges against Savers Value Village

The Washington state Supreme Court handed the thrift store chain Savers Value Village a unanimous win Thursday.

Seattle Council Member Kshama Sawant speaks to supporters and opponents of a proposed ordinance to add caste to Seattle's anti-discrimination laws at a rally at Seattle City Hall, Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2023, in Seattle. Sawant proposed the ordinance. (AP Photo/John Froschauer)
Seattle becomes first U.S. city to ban caste discrimination

The Seattle City Council on Tuesday added caste to the city’s anti-discrimination laws, becoming the first city to pass such a law outside South Asia.

Clay Siegall, cofounder and former CEO of Seagen. (Ken Lambert / The Seattle Times)
Why prosecutors say former Seagen CEO wasn’t charged after arrest

Edmonds prosecutors said there were contradictory statements on the night Seagen ex-CEO Clay Siegall was accused of domestic violence.

New Seattle City Councilmember Kshama Sawant speaks during an inauguration ceremony for city officials on Jan. 6, 2014, in Seattle. One of Sawant’s earliest memories of the caste system was hearing her grandfather – a man she “otherwise loved very much” – utter a slur to summon their lower-caste maid. Now an elected official in a city thousands of miles from India, she has proposed an ordinance to add caste to Seattle’s anti-discrimination laws. (AP Photo / Elaine Thompson, File)
Seattle considers historic law barring caste discrimination

Seattle City Council member Kshama Sawant wants to add caste to the city’s anti-discrimination laws

FILE - In this file photo dated Monday, March 11, 2019, rescuers work at the scene of an Ethiopian Airlines plane crash south of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.  The number of deaths in major air crashes around the globe fell by more than half in 2019 according to a report released Wednesday Jan. 1, 2020, by the aviation consultancy To70, revealing the worst crash for the year was an Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 MAX on March 10 that lost 157 lives. (AP Photo/Mulugeta Ayene, FILE)
Judge rejects bid to nullify Boeing deal over Max crashes

District Judge Reed O’Connor in Fort Worth said federal law doesn’t give courts the power to oversee agreements that prosecutors make with defendants.