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Governor Andrew M. Cuomo directed the Department of Financial Services Monday to reject efforts by health insurance companies to gain windfall profits off of the Trump administration's decision to repeal the individual mandate under the Affordable Care Act.

Under Cuomo's leadership, New York was one of the first states in the nation to implement its own health insurance exchange following the passage of the Affordable Care Act. Since then, New York has cut the number of uninsured rate to 5 percent, and premiums in the individual market have dropped more than 50 percent. Today the state has a robust market, with New Yorkers in every county having a choice of coverage. Cuomo vows to not allow President Trump to undo that progress made in New York.

"In New York, we're not going to allow the Trump administration tear down our health care system," Cuomo said. "We believe health care is a right, not a luxury, and we have made extraordinary progress expanding access to care. We will not go backwards. While the Trump administration tries to take us backwards, we're going to stand up, fight back and move forward. "

The Trump Administration's assault on the Affordable Care Act puts the most vulnerable New Yorkers at particular risk. While the Trump Administration and Congress have not been able to repeal the ACA outright, they have relentlessly sought to weaken insurance markets and to put health insurance out of reach for those who need it the most.

Among the most egregious examples is the recent gutting of the ACA's individual mandate, the provision that ensures that healthy people participate in the market with the result being lower insurance rates for all. While the federal actions have destabilized healthcare, of equal concern is efforts by insurance companies seeking to profit from the federal changes, especially the loss of the individual mandate.

Just this year, insurers in the individual market cited the loss of the individual mandate in seeking hundreds of millions of dollars from New York consumers through higher premium rates, which would lead to an average increase for each policy of over $1,500. Legitimate costs are one thing, but hard working New Yorkers should not have to suffer the effects of Trump chaos while insurance company profits grow. Therefore, to preserve affordable health care for New Yorkers, Cuomo has directed the Department of Financial Services to strictly enforce New York's Insurance Laws about appropriate premium rate levels and to reject insurer attempts to opportunistically profit on the scare tactics and assault from the White House and Congress.

Following the passage of the Affordable Care Act, the Governor unilaterally set up the state's health care exchange, and today nearly 1 million more New Yorkers now have health insurance. Cuomo also initiated the State's Medicaid Redesign Team in 2011, which fundamentally restructured New York's Medicaid program to improve health, enhance quality and save billions of dollars.

In the face of the federal onslaught, New York has also taken aggressive action to protect New Yorkers' access to quality, affordable health care. The State's actions include mandating that insurance companies cannot discriminate against New Yorkers with preexisting conditions or based on age or gender; mandating that insurance policies cover all 10 essential benefits laid out in the Affordable Care Act; banning all insurers who withdraw from offering Qualified Health Plans on the State Health Marketplace from future participation in the marketplace and participation in other state government programs such as Medicaid; and requiring health insurers to cover emergency contraception, over the counter and 12 months of contraception without cost-sharing.

President Trump and the federal government have repeatedly tried to dismantle the Affordable Care Act, creating upheaval in the New York health care market and putting the health insurance of hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers at risk. Actions by the federal government include gutting the individual mandate, cutting advertising and outreach, ending cost-sharing subsidies, and enabling plans that don't comply with the Act's minimum benefits.

At the same time, the Trump administration is continuing to seek drastic cuts in funding for health care. The recently introduced Federal Budget proposes severe cuts to Medicare and Medicaid funding for teaching and safety net hospitals - in addition to attempting to repeal the ACA yet again. And the Trump Administration continues to especially target New York and other blue states. For example, proposed reductions in Medicaid DSH payments would disproportionately impacts New York more than any other State, cutting safety net hospital payments by $19.5 billion. If enacted, these cuts would devastate teaching and safety net hospitals in New York, endangering New York's patients and communities.

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