The DC Blame Game Is Driving Up Health Insurance Costs: Analysis

"We needed to have the answers three months ago," said one consultant

While the Senate inches toward agreeing on a health care bill, insurers are growing increasingly rattled by congressional inaction and threats of sabotage from the White House, and customers could soon be paying the price, NBC News reported.

Insurance companies are reaching deadlines to submit the cost of their health care coverage, and some will decide whether to sell policies at all. But the uncertainty on how the government will approach health care is driving premiums higher and insurer participation lower.

Insurers are putting in their initial bids for premiums and will finalize their plans in September, but the time may have already passed for Congress to rescue the 2018 market, and the the political fight in Washington could shift to which party is to blame.

"We needed to have the answers three months ago," said Bob Laszewski, president of consulting firm Health Policy and Strategy Associates, to NBC News.

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