Cost sharing reduction (CSR) plans are offered to low-income individual insurance buyers under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA). Such plans provide reduced cost-sharing amounts such as deductible, coinsurance and copays. After CSR payments were ended, insurers had to increase premiums to offset the CSR costs not being reimbursed in the silver plan variants. This increase in premiums often referred to as “CSR or silver loading.” However, there is the potential for the current practice of silver loading to end. This paper explores key considerations to the individual market if silver loading ends.
