Thread by @ASlavitt

NEWS: Reporters calling and asking about Trump Admin press release showing ACA rates declining.

I will share my reaction here on Twitter in a thread shortly. Follow if interested.

First, as @larry_levitt points out, the principal reason premiums are decreasing is insurers’ profits are off the charts. They had freer rein to raise rates last year w Trump, there was a lot of uncertainty w Trump’s threats & insurers raised rates a lot.

https://twitter.com/larry_levitt/status/1050384810424786944

But the more important point is these results— and the Admin’s own press release indicate— Trump was wrong* when he said over and over “Obamacare is dead.” Rates are going down. It’s working.

*Alternative explanation: he lied.

The ACA is alive because it was built to be durable. It has some inherent protections.

It be clear— the end of the mandate, pulling of CSRs, Swiss cheese plans, 90% cut to marketing— all these things and others really hurt.

Rates should be down 10-15% on average.

Win a solid amount of effort— getting insurers back into the market, extending reinsurance, marketing, and promoting stability, rates can come back down much further. This is effort that I hope the Administration takes on.

Now, about the Trump Administration claiming some credit for rates coming down, despite what I just said earlier, I have no problem with that.

I am glad for the team there to feel ownership in the results No matter how they arrive.

And I know there are great @HHSGov and @CMSGov career employees (aka the deep state) that have great work to make things work under often very trying circumstances.

Ow the job is far from finished...

There is evidence the Administration is still contemplating purposely harmful rule changes for 2020 that would raise rates a lot and make it harder for people to enroll.

And if Congress doesn’t change hands, more serious threats.

We should lower Rx drug costs and introduce a public option and more.

But it should be clear now the the Congress and Administration when messing with the ACA as they continually do are messing with something that works for millions and could work even better w any effort.

/end