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Washington—Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) today released the following statement on Covered California’s 2018 rates. Rates will be 8.7 percent higher, on average, with 3.5 percent due to the repeal of the individual mandate:
“Covered California announced today that insurance rates will be 3.5 percent higher next year due to Republican’s decision to repeal the individual mandate in their tax bill. Forty percent of the rate increase is directly attributable to Republican policies. Make no mistake, Republican sabotage of the Affordable Care Act is causing families and the federal government to pay more for health care.
“Republican efforts to sabotage health care will hit middle-class families the hardest. Families that don’t receive federal financial help toward their insurance will pay the full increase, including the 3.5 percent Republican surcharge.
“Last year I introduced legislation to help these families by eliminating the cliff that cuts off all financial help to families that earn one penny more than the current cap. Instead of helping these families, Republicans are making it even harder for them to afford health care.”
Feinstein’s bill, the Affordable Health Insurance for the Middle Class Act (S.1307), would eliminate the cliff for tax-credit subsidies so that no individual or family would pay more than 9.69 percent of their monthly income toward health insurance premiums.
