Mississippi insurance commissioner expects cost-sharing payments won’t last
Currently Mississippi has one insurer in the federal health insurance marketplace, Magnolia Health Plan. At the insurance department’s direction, Magnolia submitted rates on the assumption that the cost-sharing reductions would remain with the understanding that adjustments could be made if they were pulled, Chaney said. About 60,000 Mississippians access health care insurance on the exchange.
“Mississippi already has some of the lowest rates in the country,” Chaney said, but he anticipated rates could go up about 25 percent without the cost-sharing reductions.
Another forum panelist, American Health Lawyers Association president Eric Zimmerman said it’s clear that eliminating the cost-sharing reductions would unbalance the health insurance exchange.
“If they don’t extend the cost-sharing subsidies, it’s a substantial blow to the sustainability of the marketplace,” Zimmerman said.
Daily Journal
8/16/17
Magnolia Tribune
