WASHINGTON — Alex M. Azar II, the secretary of health and human services, denied on Wednesday that Trump administration policies were driving up health insurance costs, which many experts expect to surge again in 2019.
Mr. Azar, testifying before a House committee, vigorously disputed suggestions by Democrats that President Trump had sabotaged Affordable Care Act marketplaces, where millions of people obtain insurance subsidized by the federal government.
In the market as it now exists, he said, “there’s no incentive for insurance companies to in any way contain their cost increases” because federal subsidies generally rise along with premiums.
“Those prices are going to go up, and, absent statutory change, there’s little we can do to stop that premium increase because the subsidies chase those premiums,” Mr. Azar said.
The Congressional Budget Office said the full unsubsidized premium for a benchmark midlevel plan in the marketplaces rose 34 percent this year, on average, and was likely to increase about 15 percent next year. But some insurers have already requested rate increases of more than 30 percent for 2019.
Given this dynamic, Mr. Azar said, the Trump administration is trying to “make other options available to people” — less expensive insurance that will be exempt from many coverage requirements of the Affordable Care Act.
Mr. Trump intends to expand access to “short-term, limited-duration” insurance, allowing such policies to run for 364 days, instead of the current limit of three months. In addition, he is making it easier for businesses to band together and provide insurance through “association health plans.”
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