Like many, Insurance Commissioner Katharine Wade isn’t yet sure what impact President Donald Trump’s executive order aimed at Obamacare could have on Connecticut’s healthcare market.
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Like many, Insurance Commissioner Katharine Wade isn't yet sure what impact President Donald Trump's executive order aimed at Obamacare could have on Connecticut's healthcare market.
The Jan. 20 order, Trump's first following his inauguration, is seen as an initial step towards repealing the healthcare law, which would require Congressional action.
The order instructs federal agencies to “minimize the unwarranted economic and regulatory burdens” of the law on consumers, insurers, providers and others.
It also calls on agencies to “encourage the development of a free and open market in interstate commerce for the offering of healthcare services and health insurance,” which could signal Trump's intent to pursue policies that allow health insurers to sell products across state borders.
In a recent interview, Wade said she is tracking the new administration's insurance-related actions closely, but isn't yet certain how to interpret the executive order.
“We're all trying to understand the direction that's coming from the administration and what the implications are,” Wade said.
Both Wade and Gov. Dannel Malloy, who appointed her nearly two years ago, wrote to Republican leaders earlier this month urging caution in repealing the law, which has helped reduce Connecticut's uninsured rate to less than 4 percent.
Since Republicans haven't revealed exactly what policies they hope will replace Obamacare, uncertainty remains.
But Wade did cast doubt on the idea of health insurers selling policies to residents of states in which they are not licensed — something the National Association of Insurance Commissioners is against.
“It could be very challenging,” Wade said, noting that details of any potential federal proposal remain sparse.
Several states, including Maine and Rhode Island, have already passed their own laws allowing for interstate sales, but no insurers have started doing it, according to a report this month by Stateline, the news division of the Pew Charitable Trusts.
“States have not really done anything with it,” Wade said.
Pew said insurers haven't been interested because it's costly to build up new provider networks.
And while Trump has pitched interstate sales as a way to reduce premiums, they could actually have the opposite effect, depending on the fate of Obamacare, Pew argued.
If out-of-state insurers are not bound by the coverage standards of the states they are entering, it could allow them to offer cheaper plans, drawing away healthier customers and driving up premiums for sicker customers, Pew said.
– Matt Pilon
