Virginia’s U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine yesterday issued a statement announcing they’ve asked Virginia’s top insurance regulator to inform consumers about the health insurance cost increases many are experiencing because of the Trump administration’s threats to stop paying billions of dollars in cost-sharing subsidies that lower the out-of- pocket medical costs for millions of consumers. The Senate Republican health care proposal, negotiated in secret over several weeks, has not yet been publicly shared with states, Democratic colleagues, or the public.

“This hedging by the Trump Administration and Congressional Republicans has created wild uncertainty in the Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplace, and the impacts have become clearer as insurers file proposed rates for plans they will sell there. Because of President Trump’s deliberate decision to maintain a high level of uncertainty over the continuation of these ACA subsidies, many insurers have filed significant rate increases that will hurt lower-income families as well as middle-class Virginians who earn too much to qualify for premium assistance under the law and will bear the full brunt of any rate increases,” the senators said in their statement.