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Larson Statement on Trump Administration Terminating Critical Cost Sharing Reduction Subsidies

October 13, 2017

Hartford, CT – In a deliberate attack on our nation's healthcare system, the Trump Administration announced the termination of cost-sharing reduction subsidies (CSRs). CSRs help reduce out-of-pocket health care costs for lower-income Americans.

"Those impacted by this decision are not statistics or a part of a political play; they are human beings, our fellow American citizens, who are being treated unfairly by this administration. Between cutting funding for Affordable Care Act enrollment outreach, to pursuing new regulations to blow holes in the law that allow the sale of junk insurance, they are out to sabotage our health care system. On average, insurers across the nation have already raised their premiums by 20 percent because of threats from the President to end CSR payments. This is harmful, cruel and unnecessary," said Larson. "In Connecticut, nearly 46,000 residents benefit from the cost-sharing reduction program, which helps reduce the cost of co-payments and deductibles for individuals and families who earn less than 250 percent of the federal poverty level. Now more than ever, it is time for bipartisan action on commonsense solutions to improve our health care system, since the Trump Administration is determined to sabotage, and not help."

On September 12th, Reps. Larson, Courtney, and Higgins introduced the Medicare Buy-In and Health Care Stabilization Act (H.R. 3748) to help improve existing CSR payments, make them available for more middle-class Americans, and allow Americans ages 50 to 64 to buy-into Medicare. The bill also proposes other ways to bolster stability in the marketplaces and bring down health care costs by finding innovative ways to reduce billions in waste, fraud, and abuse in the health care system.

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