President Trump鈥檚 decision to cancel cost sharing subsidies to insurance companies has prompted speculation that plans offered under the Affordable Care Act could unravel. Some insurers in New Mexico are saying not to worry yet.
The subsidies Trump is cutting are meant to help offset the costs borne by insurance companies of covering lower income customers. In New Mexico much of the population is low-income, so Trump鈥檚 decision has the potential to impact a lot of people.
But Martin Hickey, CEO of the low-cost insurance cooperative , says at this point it鈥檚 too early to be concerned about those impacts.
Hickey says they anticipated this move by the Trump Administration, and raised premium rates to compensate for losing federal subsidies. That means customers who鈥檝e already bought Health Connections plans on the exchange will feel little to no impact through 2018.
It鈥檚 hard to plan beyond that yet, he says, given the continuing uncertainty over what will happen with the health care market in the coming years.
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