CBO predicts savings with health care compromise

WASHINGTON A bipartisan bill to shore up Obamacare insurance markets would save the government money but not substantially change the number of people with health insurance, according to congressional budget analysts.

The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office assumed, however, that the bill, introduced this month by Sens. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., and Patty Murray, D-Wash., would not be passed in time to affect 2018 premiums. It also assumed that payments to insurance companies for discounts they’re required to give lower-income customers will continue even if the bill does not become law.

It’s still unclear whether the bill will receive a vote in Congress — or whether President Trump supports it.

Different legislation was proposed Tuesday by two key GOP chairmen.

Meanwhile, enrollment for 2018 insurance plans sold on the markets created by the Affordable Care Act begins Nov. 1.

Premiums have risen in part because of uncertainty over whether the federal government would continue reimbursing insurers for discounts they’re required to give lower-income customers on deductibles and copayments.

That uncertainty also prompted many insurers to stop participating in the marketplaces, which are used by people who don’t get coverage through an employer or government program like Medicare or Medicaid.

About one-fourth of the population lives in a county that will be served by only one carrier, according to an analysis released Tuesday by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.