About one million customers dropped coverage, having been priced out of the health insurance market in 2017, according to a report by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
The report is the first look at people who buy their own insurance but do not qualify for federal subsidies under Obamacare.
Last year, when insurance prices rose by just over 20 percent, those who qualified for Obamacare subsidies stayed on board, but the increases appear to have been too much for those who earn too much to qualify for financial assistance, The New York Times reported.
The Trump administration reduced advertising for the Obamacare signup period, and it remains possible that some people who stopped buying insurance got new jobs with health care benefits. But the Trump administration concludes that the rise in prices is the reason for customers to leave, The Times reported.
"These reports show that the high-price plans on the individual market are unaffordable and forcing unsubsidized middle-class consumers to drop coverage," said Seema Verma, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services administrator, The Times reported.
New options that the Trump administration could enact include allowing individuals to buy "short-term limited duration" insurance, which includes fewer benefits and can reject people with histories of illness
The new options are likely to only be useful for those people healthy enough to qualify, The Times reported. With the repeal of the fine for those who fail to get health insurance, those new options will tend to pull healthier customers out of the markets, which would raise prices for the rest of the customers, The Times reported.
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