10/24/2019
Modern Healthcare.com
A federal judge this week ordered the federal government to pay about 100 health insurance plans a total $1.6 billion in unpaid subsidies.
While the government will likely appeal the case, the judgment illustrates the sheer magnitude of the funds the Trump administration could be forced to pay up.
The insurers are part of a class action brought by Wisconsin-based Common Ground Healthcare Cooperative, which challenged the federal government’s failure to pay cost-sharing reduction subsidies that were intended to lower healthcare costs for certain people who bought coverage on the Affordable Care Act exchanges.
The amounts owed to each insurer range from tens of thousands to hundreds of millions of dollars. Kaiser Foundation Health Plan is owed the largest amount of $220.3 million for 2017 and 2018 across its plans in several states, according to Modern Healthcare’s analysis damages outlined in the order.