Obamacare Subsidy Loss May Boost Premiums, Chase Insurers
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A future court ruling that Americans in 36 states can no longer get U.S. subsidies for Obamacare’s insurance plans would boost premiums by 76 percent, allowing many to flee the program and chasing away insurers.
It’s a worst-case scenario that could affect almost 5 million people who use subsidies now, and millions more who haven’t yet enrolled. Under the health law, anyone whose premiums exceed 8 percent of their income is exempt from the law’s mandate that all Americans be covered. That may leave only the sickest and most desperate on the rolls, raising coverage costs for insurers.