BlueCross BlueShield of North Carolina has announced that it will increase the average premiums for Affordable Care Act marketplace plans by an average of 14.1% in 2018, citing the Trump Administration’s failure to pay cost-sharing reductions that are vital for lowering out-of-pocket costs paid by working people.

Numerous healthcare experts and patient advocacy organizations, including the American Cancer Society, have called for Congress to ensure that these payments resume to reduce premiums.

“Plain and simple, if Donald Trump had not cut-off cost-sharing payments in order to sabotage the Affordable Care Act, premiums on the individual market would barely go up at all in North Carolina next year,” said American Bridge spokesperson Andrew Bates. ​”​Republicans representing North Carolina in Congress should stand-up to Donald Trump and support the bipartisan compromise deal put forward by Senators of both parties so that North Carolinians don’t suffer the needless economic pain these higher premiums would mean for them.”

Raleigh News & Observer, 10/18/2017: “A half-million North Carolina customers who buy individual health insurance from Blue Cross and Blue Shield will pay an average rate increase of 14.1 percent starting in January, the company said Tuesday….Blue Cross also said that it had anticipated that the Trump administration would eliminate a type of subsidy called a cost sharing reduction, which requires to discount their plans for low-income customers. If it had not been for that, Blue Cross officials said their rate increase would have been close to zero. Trump issued an executive order eliminating the subsidies last week.”