Insurers are trying to prepare to meet deadlines to submit premium rates for 2018 amid an uncertain political climate, reports NPR.
Here are four things to know.
1. In March, the GOP's ACA replacement plan, dubbed the American Health Care Act, failed in the House. Republicans recently developed a revised ACA repeal plan. However, House Republican leaders decided Thursday to delay a vote on the latest bill.
2. Meanwhile, insurers with plans on the ACA marketplaces must comply with deadlines to submit 2018 health insurance exchange plan and premium rate increase requests to states. NBR reports a number of states have pushed deadlines back to June, while other states have a May deadline for insurers.
"Basically we've got four to six weeks to figure out some basic things that will help all of us in the industry to have more surety and stability, so we can price our premiums lower," Tom Policelli, CEO of Minuteman Health, which sells ACA policies in Massachusetts and New Hampshire, told NPR.
3. Insurers are waiting to see if the law will change and question how long President Donald Trump's administration will continue to pay cost-sharing reductions to subsidize coverage for Americans on the ACA exchanges, reports NPR. Just this week, lawmakers decided the government will continue to pay the subsidies, although they did not make a long-term funding commitment.
4. A new analysis from the Kaiser Family Foundation revealed ending cost-sharing reduction payments would cost the federal government an additional $12.3 billion in premium tax credits next year, but save only $10 billion.
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