State approves rate hikes for Obamacare

But consumers won’t pay more

Rate increases much higher than originally requested have been approved by state regulators for the dwindling number of health insurers still willing to sell plans in Florida on the socalled Obamacare marketplace next year.

Even though the rate increases approved for nine insurers average 44.7 percent, consumers who will purchase the affected plans won’t pay any more for coverage in 2018, and some will pay a bit less, according to the state Office of Insurance Regulation.

Essentially, regulators told insurers to raise rates with the expectation that one federal source of financial assistance for policyholders — known as Cost Saving Reductions [CSRs] — will disappear and be replaced by another source — federal premium subsidies. Current federal law requires subsidies to keep premiums low for qualifying consumers.

Both sources of assistance are heavily relied upon in Florida, and both are paid by the U.S. government directly to insurers.

President Trump has threatened to withhold Cost Saving Reductions as part of his effort to pressure Congress to “repeal and replace” the Affordable Care Act.

“This protects insurers by the department saying, ‘Let’s assume the worst [regarding CSRs]. We’re not making you bear the risk,’” said Gary Claxton, a health care policy researcher at the non-profit Kaiser Family Foundation. “It avoids disruption by being pessimistic.”

Seventy-five percent of Florida’s 1.4 million ACA enrollees in February 2017 qualified for Cost Saving Reductions while 93 percent qualified for federal premium subsidies, according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

Claxton said the rate increases approved Monday by state regulators do nothing to advance the debate