Federal agents ... rollees who choose plans that cost less than their subsidies could receive additional benefits or rebates. But critics say enrollees’ costs would rise dramatically. NARFE estimates participants in the Blue Cross Blue Shield standard family plan, who now pay 33 percent of premiums, would pay as much as 56 percent of premium costs by 2020 under a premium support plan. Federal Times’ calculations — based on an assumed 6 percent annual increase in health care costs — show Blue Cross standard enrollees would pay 44 percent of the premium cost by 2020 under such a plan. If health care costs rise dramatically, feds would be stuck with even more of the costs as premiums leave the GDP-plus-one subsidy further behind. It’s unclear how a premium support plan would be enacted, and how subsidies would be set in their first year. CBO’s report suggested several ways to decide how much the government would cover, such as basing the benchmarks on averages of health plans’ bids, or setting them at a predetermined amount.

 

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