Shaheen Statement on CBO Assessment of Ending Cost-Sharing Reduction Payments

**CBO: Insurance premiums would rise 20 percent in 2018**

(Washington, DC) – U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) released the following statement after the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) issued an assessment on the implications of ending cost-sharing reduction (CSR) payments as directed by the Affordable Care Act (ACA). CBO’s report concludes that if the Trump administration were to end the payments, insurance premiums would rise by 20 percent in 2018 and the national deficit would increase by $194 billion over the next decade. Senator Shaheen is leading efforts in the Senate to provide marketplace stability by permanently continuing and increasing eligibility for cost-sharing reduction payments. Her Marketplace Certainty Act would make this funding permanent and available to more working Americans.

“Today’s CBO report confirms that President Trump’s refusal to commit to cost sharing reductions would lead to higher healthcare costs and put coverage for millions of Americans at risk,” said Senator Shaheen. “The Trump administration has already caused unnecessary chaos in the healthcare marketplace, leading to rising premiums and insurers dropping out of ACA marketplaces across the country. There is growing bipartisan support for measures to stabilize healthcare marketplaces, and I’ve introduced legislation that would make good on our commitment to help working Granite State families with their deductibles and end this manufactured crisis. It’s time for the Trump administration to end its dangerous obsession with undermining the Affordable Care Act, listen to the American people and act immediately to provide stability for the healthcare marketplaces. In the Senate, I’ll continue to urge action on my legislation so that more families in New Hampshire have access to quality, affordable healthcare.”