NEW YORK (Reuters)—U.S. Republicans may be moving ahead with a vote to repeal Obamacare, but the uncertainty about what a national health law may look like is clouding insurers’ decisions on whether to stay in the individual insurance market in 2018.
Republicans do plan to vote on the U.S. House of Representatives bill, the American HealthCare Act, this afternoon, a wide-reaching piece of legislation that would undo the central tenets of Obamacare and create a pathway for an orderly transition next year to the new law.
The House, however, is not the final word. The bill must next go to the U.S. Senate, where the Republican majority is smaller and some have spoken out against the bill. Any changes there would then need to go back to the House for a sign-off, a process with an uncertain timing.
Insurers do not have the luxury to wait and see what the final outcome is before they move ahead with decisions about next year. State regulatory deadlines this week to submit 2018 insurance plans have forced some insurers to make a call on whether to participate in the individual insurance market next year despite not having details they say they need.
“The vote today does not relieve the uncertainty and concerns that the insurance industry has about the (individual)market for next year and beyond,” AEI health policy expert Joseph Antos said.
The insurers have been loudly complaining about the Republican back-and-forth. Republicans pulled the first version of their bill earlier this year, and have issued conflicting statements about whether the administration will continue to fund cost sharing subsidies this year or next year, which amount to $7 billion this year.
In the last week, they have used public conference calls with Wall Street, letters to Congressional leaders and press statements, to promise that if Republicans do not quell the uncertainty over next year, they will leave Obamacare or raise rates beyond what consumers want to pay.
“The window is quickly closely for action to be taken on (subsidies) in 2018,” Kristine Grow, a spokeswoman for the industry’s biggest lobby, America’s Health Insurance Plans, said.
Aetna Inc, which cut its exchange presence by three-quarters this year, on Wednesday said it would exit the Virginia Obamacare market next year.
Virginia and Maryland both had regulatory deadlines this week. Others, like Maine and Pennsylvania, moved those deadlines back to later this month or have July deadlines to give insurers more time to decide. The federal government deadline is in June.
