John Baackes, CEO of L.A. Care, spoke on the health plan surcharge that will be impacting Covered California insurers, pointing to a lack of responsibility in the Trump Administration. The quote was featured in the October 11, 2017 editions of the Los Angeles Times, California Healthline, Kaiser Health News and other media outlets.
John Baackes, chief executive of L.A. Care Health Plan, said his 2018 rates will be 11 percentage points higher because of the added surcharge — a 23 percent average increase instead of 12 percent. His health plan has about 26,000 exchange enrollees. He said the higher premiums would be “totally avoidable” if the Trump administration implemented the ACA.
“We have to lay the blame for this at the foot of the Trump administration for being so irresponsible about this major portion of the law,” Baackes said. “This will not be a burden on most consumers, but it will be a higher cost to the U.S. Treasury. It all seems so ridiculous.”
Read the full article, “Covered California Slaps a Surcharge on Health Plans as Trump Remains Coy on Subsidies,” by Chad Terhune of Kaiser Health News at: