Trump roils state’s insurance market

Wisconsin Democrats — and other advocates concerned about a spike in health insurance costs caused by President Donald Trump’s elimination of a federal subsidy — called for action, while Republicans pointed to the move as a need to overhaul the entire system.

J.P. Wieske, Wisconsin’s deputy commissioner of insurance, announced the 36 percent premium increase for the average plan, fueled by the expected loss of subsidies that help cover deductibles and copayments for low-income consumers.

His announcement came just hours before Trump said he was indeed ending the federal subsidies.

“I woke up, really, in horror,” said Alice Thompson, 62, an environmental consultant from the Milwaukee area who purchases insurance on the federal exchange. Thompson said she expects to pay 30 percent to 50 percent more per year, for about $1,200 a month — more than her mortgage payment.

Thompson, who said she has a pre-existing condition, never had full coverage before the Affordable Care Act enacted under then-President Barack Obama.

“It’s making me outraged that I have to fight for something that is so basic to our livelihood and our ability to work and have small businesses,” she said on a call organized by the liberal healthcare advocacy group Citizen Action.

Partisan healthcare divide — again

Democratic lawmakers called on Trump and state Republicans, including Gov. Scott Walker, to find a bipartisan solution to keep insurance affordable, especially for low-income people most at risk of dropping their coverage once the subsidies end.

Walker has been an outspoken opponent of the federal healthcare law and refused to set up a state-run exchange. He said Wisconsin would look for flexibility under the law to cut costs.

“Obamacare has failed to deliver on its promise of affordable healthcare year after year,” Walker spokesman Tom Evenson said.

State Rep. Jimmy Anderson, D–Fitchburg, said it was up to state office holders “to staunch the bleeding caused by the president. Unfortunately, Gov. Walker has done nothing but cheer on Trump’s reckless actions.”

U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D–Wis., blasted Trump’s decision to cut the subsidies, fueling the cost increase in Wisconsin.

“Wisconsin families cannot afford the higher premiums that this chaos has created,” Baldwin said. “We need bipartisan action in Congress now to lower healthcare costs by funding these cost-sharing reduction payments.”

Baldwin is running for re-election in 2018. Her Republican challengers were careful not to praise Trump when reacting to his move, but they didn’t criticize him either.

One of them, state Sen. Leah Vukmir, R–Brookfield, avoided mentioning Trump in a statement calling the subsidies “unconstitutional and poor policy.”

Another challenger, Delafield businessman Kevin Nicholson, dodged the question of whether he supported Trump’s decision and instead says the move shows “it’s time for Congress to finally deliver conservative healthcare reforms like improving price transparency, allowing more consumer choices and increasing portability of healthcare dollars.”

For 2017, 216,000 Wisconsin residents bought health insurance through the federal exchange. Of those, about 50 percent received subsidized coverage targeted by Trump while 91 percent benefited from federal tax breaks.