Trump Ending Obamacare Subsidies Lowered Insurance Cost for Many

(Bloomberg) -- President Donald Trump’s attempt to undermine the Affordable Care Act last year didn’t work as planned: Premiums for one group of consumers actually fell.

In October, after months of threats, Trump ended some cost-sharing subsidies that went to companies, causing the list prices for coverage through Obamacare to rise sharply. But many people also get government help paying for coverage.

Since those individual subsidies increase as insurance premiums rise, people got more financial assistance than a year ago and are paying less out of pocket, according to a government report released Tuesday.

The net cost of insurance coverage for people who receive subsidies declined to $89 a month this year, on average, in the 39 states where the federal government runs the sign-up process. Last year, premiums for subsidized people averaged $106 a month.

People who didn’t get subsidies this year are paying an average premium of $522 a month on the federally run markets.

Altogether, about 11.8 million people signed up for ACA plans for 2018, down from 12.2 million in 2017, the report showed.

To contact the reporter on this story: Zachary Tracer in New York at ztracer1@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Drew Armstrong at darmstrong17@bloomberg.net, Timothy Annett

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