Government Healthcare Policy, Business and Technology

Feds short insurers $2.5 billion on exchange plan losses

Modern Healthcare: Health insurers that sold plans and lost money on the Affordable Care Act's exchanges in 2014 will only receive a portion of their promised safety-valve payments, according to government data released Thursday.The $2.5 billion still owed to insurers could be covered in 2015 and 2016. But if that doesn't happen, the agency will have to work with a Congress led by Republican members who remain hostile to the ACA to cover those remaining funds. Some smaller companies could experience “solvency and liquidity challenges” as a result, although the CMS said those would be isolated cases.The healthcare reform law established three “market stabilization” programs to help insurers weather the first few years of covering a new population with unpredictable healthcare needs.

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