Health insurers now have three more weeks to decide on whether or not to offer coverage through the Obamacare exchanges, after the Trump administration extended the deadline, National Public Radio reported.
Insurers are citing increasing uncertainty in regards to Obamacare's cost-sharing reduction payments and whether or not the Trump administration will continue to fund them. These payments are expected to total $7 billion this year.
"The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services says it's offering the extra time so insurance companies can plan ahead in case the government decides to end the payments," the article said. "The agency said many states are now requiring companies to file their rates for 2018 on the assumption that they won't be reimbursed."
Some companies have filed for double-digit rate increases in the event these cost-sharing reduction payments are not made. Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina said its rates would increase by 14.1 percent.
"House Republicans opposed to the health law sued then-President Obama, saying the payments are illegal because Congress hadn't appropriated money for them," the article states.
"Now that Trump is in the White House, and Republican efforts to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act have failed, many Republicans are urging the president to continue the payments rather than undermine the health care markets."