The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) issued a report today which examines what would happen to the health insurance marketplace if the Trump Administration ended the cost-sharing reductions (CSRs). The CSR payments are payments made to the insurance companies to help offset out-of-pocket costs for lower income enrollees and have been the subject of an ongoing lawsuit which was originally between Congress and the Obama Administration, and now, between Congress and the Trump Administration.
The CBO report estimates that insurance companies would increase premiums by 20% to offset the losses they would experience as a result of losing the CSR payments. The report also estimates that insurers could withdraw from the market leaving 5% of the population in areas without an option in the non-group market.
To read more about the effect of ending the CSR payments, check out our news item about issue briefs earlier this year from the Kaiser Family Foundation which examined this issue.