COLUMBUS – If Obamacare is “imploding” in Ohio, it is doing so in the wrong direction.
Five major health insurers in the state have agreed to sell policies on the federal exchange established by the Affordable Care Act in 19 of the 20 counties that had no options for 2018 following the withdrawal of other insurers earlier this year, the Ohio Department of Insurance announced Monday.
That still leaves no insurer planning to sell an exchange product in 2018 in Paulding County, says department director Jillian Froment.
“There is more work to do as we try to secure coverage options in Paulding County while also making sure this plan can be finalized in the fall,” she said. “We will continue working with the industry, but those efforts are heavily dependent on market stability and clarity from Washington. We encourage Congress to work on ways to stabilize our health insurance markets.”
Residents of those counties were at risk of being left without health insurance after Anthem and Paramount Health Care said they would not return next year.
The companies — Buckeye Health Plan, CareSource, Medical Mutual of Ohio, Molina Health Care of Ohio and Paramount – plan to offer coverage to approximately 11,000 residents of Crawford, Guernsey, Hancock, Harrison, Hocking, Holmes, Jackson, Knox, Lawrence, Logan, Morgan, Muskingum, Noble, Perry, Van Wert, Vinton, Williams and Wyandot counties, said
Restoration of the cuts in those 19 Ohio counties effectively cuts in half the number of counties nationwide that lack insurers on their exchanges for next year.
President Donald Trump has threatened to stop billions of dollars in government payments to insurers and force the collapse of “Obamacare.”
The money — about $7 billion this year — reimburses insurers for reducing copays and deductibles for low-income people.
While the payments are under a legal cloud, the Affordable Care Act clearly says insurers have to provide the financial assistance to customers who qualify, and that the government has to repay the insurers.
Trump could be blamed if premiums jump as expected after such a decision, analysts say.