Insurance lobbyists meet GOP staff on ObamaCare repeal

Insurance lobbyists met with Senate Republican staff on Wednesday afternoon to discuss the chamber’s healthcare reform bill, according to insurance industry sources.

GOP staff provided some details on the bill but did not share the text of the measure, the sources said. 

Insurers did get one bit of good news on their end at the meeting: The bill will fund ObamaCare payments to insurers, known as cost-sharing reduction subsidies, likely for two years. 

{mosads}An industry source said that fact is making at least some insurers look more favorably on the legislation. 

Insurers have been pounding the drum about the need for the payments. President Trump has threatened to cancel them in order to bring about instability in the ObamaCare marketplaces. 

Insurers have already been raising their proposed premiums for next year because of the uncertainty over the payments. 

Insurers did not take a strong stand either way on the House repeal bill, unlike many other parts of the healthcare industry, which denounced the measure for its coverage losses for millions of people and cuts to Medicaid.