SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - The Latest on changes in California coverage under the Obama health care law (all times local):
10:45 a.m.
Monthly premiums for California health insurance plans sold under Obama’s Affordable Care Act will rise by an average of 12.5 percent next year.
About 10 percent of people enrolled through Covered California will also be forced to look for a new plan, as Anthem Blue Cross plans to end the coverage in most of the state. State officials say Anthem will continue providing coverage only in Santa Clara County and parts of Northern California and the Central Valley.
The 12.5 percent average increase is slightly lower than last year, when premiums rose by more than 13 percent. Officials say consumers who switch to the lowest-priced plans could lower than increase to about 3 percent.
Covered California’s Tuesday pricing announcement comes during a moment of uncertainty in the U.S. health care system. President Donald Trump’s administration has threatened to end payments to insurance companies aimed at lowering out-of-pocket costs. Officials say premiums will rise even more for some consumers if those subsidies end.
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6 a.m.
California officials are preparing to release next year’s monthly premiums for people who buy individual insurance plans under former President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul.
The announcement on Tuesday comes at a time of extreme uncertainty about the future of the U.S. health care system. A Republican plan to unwind key pieces of Obama’s law failed in the U.S. Senate last week, but President Donald Trump has repeatedly urged lawmakers to keep working on it.
Trump has threatened to end payments that insurance companies receive to keep down out-of-pocket costs for lower-income consumers.
Covered California, the state’s health exchange, warned earlier this year that monthly premiums would likely rise significantly if insurers worry that those payments won’t be guaranteed in 2018.
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