Feds Urge States to Encourage Cheaper Plans Off the Exchanges
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The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, which oversees the insurance marketplaces set up by the Affordable Care Act, is encouraging states to allow the sale of plans outside of those exchanges that don't incorporate a surcharge insurers started tacking on last year. Many insurers added the premium surcharges last fall to plans sold on the individual market. It was a response to the Trump administration's announcement that it would no longer pay the companies for the "cost-sharing reduction" subsidies required under the health law. The subsidies help cover deductibles and other out-of-pocket costs for lower-income consumers who buy marketplace plans. (Michelle Andrews, Kaiser Health News)
