The Trump administration will resume a program that pays billions of dollars to health insurers, just weeks after sending insurers into a panic by abruptly suspending the payments, The Hill reported. The federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) said it has adopted an interim final rule that will allow the agency to provide $10.4 billion in “risk adjustment” funding to insurers to help them provide coverage to particularly sick and costly enrollees. CMS said that “taking immediate action to allow for the continued operation of the risk adjustment program is imperative to maintain stability and predictability in the individual and small group health insurance markets.” The administration’s surprise suspension of the risk-adjustment payments earlier this month set off a round of warnings of rising premiums and condemnation from Democrats who said it was further GOP “sabotage” of the health care law. This final rule makes no changes to the program, and essentially just restarts it after a short pause. The administration cited as its reason for stopping the payments a court ruling from a federal judge in New Mexico finding that the administration had not fully justified its formula for dispensing the funds. Experts said the payment freeze should not have a significant long-term impact, as it was resolved in only a couple of weeks.
