State insurance officials seek backup plan faced with possibility of Trump's subsidy cuts

Philadelphia

CONGRESS is on vacation, but state insurance commissioners have no time off. They have spent the past three days debating what to do if President Donald Trump stops subsidies paid to insurance companies on behalf of millions of low-income people.

For administration officials and many in Congress, the subsidies are a political and legal issue in a fight over the future of the Affordable Care Act. But for state officials, gathered here at the summer meeting of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, the subsidies are a more immediate, practical concern.

The insurance commissioners are frustrated with the gridlock in Washington, which they say threatens coverage for consumers and the solvency of some insurers. Without the payments, they s…