WASHINGTON, DC – In response to reports that the Trump administration is ending cost-sharing reduction (CSR) payments that help keep premiums affordable, U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) released the following statement:
“President Trump's continued partisan and petty efforts to sabotage our nation's healthcare system are hurting hardworking Americans and wasting billions of taxpayer dollars. Instead of adopting bipartisan, common-sense fixes that would expand access and lower costs, he is taking actions that will cause premiums to skyrocket, raise costs for seniors and make it more expensive for people with illnesses or pre-existing conditions to afford health insurance. From this point forward, the American people will know that when their healthcare is more expensive and the quality of their coverage worsens, it is because of the Trump administration.”
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A non-partisan analysis earlier this year from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) found that healthcare premiums would rise by 20 percent next year and the federal budget deficit would increase by nearly $200 billion if President Trump ends CSR payments. Illinois insurers such as Cigna and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois have previously cited Trump’s threat to end CSR payments as a direct cause for their proposed premium increases for 2018. Cost-sharing reduction payments help make premiums more affordable for more than 156,000 Illinoisans.
