U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin Statement on President Trump’s Sabotage of Wisconsin’s Health Care Market by Ending Cost-Sharing Reduction Payments
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin released the following statement on President Trump’s plans to cut off cost-sharing reduction payments, which will lead to higher health care costs for Wisconsinites.
“The Trump Administration’s sabotage of the health care market has contributed to a 36 percent premium spike in Wisconsin. Now, President Trump is ending cost-sharing reduction payments that make health care more affordable for 110,000 people in our state,” said Senator Baldwin. “Wisconsin families cannot afford the higher premiums that this chaos has created. We need bipartisan action in Congress now to lower health care costs by funding these cost-sharing reduction payments.”
Yesterday, the Walker Administration announced that average premiums in Wisconsin will jump 36 percent for people buying health coverage through the federally run exchange. The dramatic increase in premiums was based on the Trump Administration ending cost-sharing reduction payments.
In May, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC), led by NAIC President and Wisconsin Commissioner of Insurance Ted Nickel, warned the Trump Administration that uncertainty around cost-sharing reduction payments could lead to a 15 to 20 percent premium rate increase for consumers.
According to a Congressional Budget Office (CBO) report from August, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities found that stopping cost-sharing reduction payments would raise the federal budget deficit, drive up federal marketplace subsidy costs, raise premiums, cause more insurers to withdraw from the marketplaces, and increase the number of uninsured next year.
Background:
In July, Senator Baldwin joined Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and 19 of their colleagues in introducing the Marketplace Certainty Act to help stabilize the health care marketplace by permanently appropriating the cost-sharing reductions included in the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and making cost-sharing reduction payments available to more Americans.
In April, Senator Baldwin led members of the Senate Health Committee in sending a letter to President Trump, Secretary Price and Speaker Paul Ryan calling on them to halt all efforts to undermine the benefits in the ACA and protect the cost-sharing payments.
In January, Senator Baldwin sent a letter to President Trump calling on him to protect cost-sharing reduction payments.
