Gov. Bruce Rauner’s efforts to preserve the Affordable Care Act will force up health-care premiums next year for Illinoisans who are not Medicaid-eligible, according to C. Steven Tucker, the founder of HealthInsuranceMentors.com.
The increase is tied to cost-sharing reduction (CSR) subsidies. President Donald Trump has issued an executive order to cut taxpayer funding of CSRs in the Affordable Care Act.
“Our premiums are going to be about 15 percent to 20 percent higher than we expected next year,” Tucker told Dan Proft and Amy Jacobson, hosts of Chicago’s Morning Answer radio show.
C. Steven Tucker
Proft is a principal of Local Government Information Services, which owns this publication.
People with salaries below 250 percent of the federal poverty level receive CSRs, which lowers their deductibles and copays.
If taxpayers no longer fund the subsidies, health insurance premiums will rise for people who do not receive them, according to Tucker.
Crain's Chicago Business says consumers who qualify for CSRs can only purchase silver health plans on the ACA Marketplace.
Rauner told insurance carriers to charge a 15 percent surcharge to those plans, specifically because when premiums rise, so do federal tax credits.
Those credits reduce monthly premium costs, and the federal government will pick up the tab for CSR-qualified consumers, according to Crain's.
Illinois residents who do not qualify for CSRs will have higher premiums.
Tucker said it will take time for the federal government to adhere to the president's executive order.
“No changes are going to take place from the executive order for at least 60 to 120 days, so we’re looking at next year before we see any of these changes,” Tucker said.
Tucker said cutting CSRs is good for taxpayers.
“That $7 billion will no longer be illegally handed to the health insurance industry in order to artificially lower deductibles,” Tucker said.
Alerts Sign-up