End of US payments to health insurers would cause premiums to rise

Washington

HEALTH insurance premiums for many customers on the Obamacare individual insurance markets would be 20 per cent higher in 2018 if US President Donald Trump follows through on a threat to stop billions of dollars of payments to health insurers, a nonpartisan congressional office said on Tuesday.

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) also found that terminating the payments would mean that 5 per cent of Americans would live in areas that do not have an insurer in the individual market in 2018.