Trump's 'mixed signals' on health care could lead to big premium increases, study finds

(Image credit: NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP/Getty Images))

published 10 August 2017

Confusion is just one of the side effects of President Trump's indecision on how to deliver Republicans' promised health-care reform. A study released Thursday by the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation revealed that all of Trump's "mixed signals" could cause "double-digit premium increases" on health insurance policies in 2018, The New York Times reported:

Researchers from the Kaiser foundation looked at proposed premiums for a benchmark silver plan across major metropolitan areas in 20 states and Washington, D.C. Overall, they found that 15 of those cities will see increases of 10 percent or more next year.The highest: a 49 percent jump in Wilmington, Delaware. The only decline: a 5 percent reduction in Providence, Rhode Island. [The New York Times]

"In many cases, that means insurers are adding double-digit premium increases on top of what they otherwise would have requested," said study co-author Cynthia Cox. "What we are seeing is an additional increase due to the political uncertainty."

The increases, which Kaiser said can be traced at least partially back to the unusual levels of uncertainty spurred by Trump's attacks on ObamaCare coupled with his party's inability to pass a replacement plan, could affect as many as 17 million people.