Therisk-adjustment payments, worth $10.4 billion for 2017, are part ofa program in the ACA to help balance the insurance markets whensome insurers inevitably got stuck with costlier patients. (Photo:Shutterstock)

The Trump administration is preparing a regulation that wouldallow the resumption of billions of dollars in paymentsto health insurers in Obamacare.

The Office of Management and Budget was sent a rule on Wednesdayfrom the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services tied to therisk-adjustment program, which transfers moneyto insurers who take on sicker customers.

An administration official said the rule is an option beingconsidered to resolve the legal dispute that has held up thepayments.

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The rule is labeled as an interim final rule, a status thatwould allow it to go into effect immediately. It's titled“Ratification and Reissuance of the Methodology for theHHS-operated Permanent Risk Adjustment Program under the PatientProtection and Affordable Care Act.”

The administration official asked not to be identified, becausethe rule hasn't been made public. Details of government rulesaren't released to the public until they're reviewed by the budgetoffice.

Health-insurance industry groups had pushed the Trumpadministration to issue an interim final rule for therisk-adjustment program to resolve a legal dispute that hadthreatened to halt payments under the program. The risk-adjustmentpayments, worth $10.4 billion for 2017, are part of a program inthe Affordable Care Act meant to help balance the insurance marketswhen some insurers inevitably got stuck with costlier patients.

Insurers had warned they might have to raise Obamacare premiumsfor 2019 if the dispute wasn't resolved quickly. The program movesmoney among insurers, transferring funds from insurers withhealthier customers to those with sicker ones. Among publiclytraded insurers, Centene Corp. and Molina Healthcare Inc. owe moneyto other insurers under the program, while Anthem Inc. is set toreceive funds.

The Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, an industry trade groupwhose members include Anthem, said it approves of the effort,though it will need to examine the details of the rule carefullyonce it's available.

“This regulation needs to be put in place quickly andeffectively in order to avoid disruption for consumers and smallbusinesses who will be purchasing coverage this fall,” KrisHaltmeyer, vice president for legislative and regulatory policy atthe association, said by email.