AHIP; No hurray for Cromnibus

Elise Viebeck reports in The Hill that the health insurance industry has had its apple cart upended by Republicans;

America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) blasted legislation changing ObamaCare's "risk corridors" program and predicted that it would raise healthcare costs for families.

"American budgets are already strained by healthcare costs, and this change will lead to higher premiums for consumers and make it more difficult to achieve affordability," said Clare Krusing, AHIP spokeswoman.

What, you ask, are risk corridors?

Risk corridors, a commonly used tool in public policy, were included in the healthcare law to spread risk among insurance companies participating in the new health insurance exchanges.

Firms that do better than expected in 2014, 2015 and 2016 pay the government, and firms that do worse than excepted can receive those funds.

Which funds were to come from where, if more insurers do worse than expected? The American taxpayers through the backdoor. But, according to the Dept of Health and Human Services, the law just passed ends that possibility.