- Trump Administration Could Zap Obamacare Enrollment by Dropping Outreach Deals CNBC by Dan Mangan — The Trump administration refused Monday to commit to partnering with outside groups to promote enrollment in Obamacare health plans, potentially reversing four years of those cooperative efforts. The administration's stance, coupled with its similar refusal to commit to key Obamacare subsidies to insurers through next year, could result in fewer people signing up for health coverage in the individual insurance plans for 2018 after open enrollment starts in November. And if those subsidies, known as cost-sharing reduction payments, are ended, insurers could end up charging individual plan customers much higher premiums next year.
- Trump Administration Extends Deadline for Insurers to Decide on Obamacare Markets NPR by Alison Kodjak — The Trump administration is giving insurance companies an extra three weeks to decide whether to offer insurance plans through the Affordable Care Act markets, and how much to charge. The extension comes as insurance companies wait for President Trump to decide whether he will continue to make payments to insurance companies that are called for under the Affordable Care Act but that some Republicans have opposed. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services says it is offering the extra time so insurance companies can plan ahead in case the government decides to end the payments. In a memo Friday, the agency said many states are now requiring companies to file their rates for 2018 on the assumption that they won't be reimbursed.