Jul 19, 2018

ACA premiums in California are going up by 9%

Sam Baker

Photo: Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Californians will pay an average of 8.7% more next year for health insurance sold through the Affordable Care Act, and many consumers who are willing to switch plans won't see any premium increase at all, the state said today.

Why it matters: California's rates continue a trend of smaller-than-expected premium hikes. The fact that the ACA's individual mandate won't be enforced next year drove up premiums by an average of 3.5%, despite earlier fears of double-digit hikes and dwindling competition.

The big picture: The ACA's insurance markets are looking a lot stronger than many experts predicted after Congress nullified the law's individual mandate. California is just the latest state to report relatively modest premium hikes, and some insurers are expanding their presence — a stark contrast to warnings of double-digit rate hikes and dwindling competition.

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Sara Fischer, Jonathan Swan

Scoop: Inside the Trump campaign's big hedge on Facebook

Illustration: Eniola Odetunde/Axios

The Trump campaign has invested most of its advertising budget to date on Facebook, testing thousands of versions of ads per day to maximize its spending.

But behind the scenes, a source familiar with the campaign tells Axios, the thinking has shifted: "As everyone can see, we still have strong spending on Facebook, but the percentage of our total media budget [on Facebook] is shrinking."

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Trump's revenge tour has the House in its sights

Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios. Photo: Saul Loeb/Getty Contributor

In the lead-up to the 2018 midterm elections — buoyed by Republican control of both chambers — President Trump viewed campaigning for the House as a lower-tier priority and instead poured his energy into rallying for the Senate.

But after the GOP reckoning in 2018, and experiencing firsthand how damaging a Democratic-led House has been to him, Trump is now personally invested in helping Republicans regain the majority in November, several people familiar with his thinking tell Axios.

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Jacob Knutson

Pelosi warns U.S. allies against working with China's Huawei

Nancy Pelosi, Feb. 16. Photo: Sven Hoppe/picture alliance via Getty Images

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Sunday cautioned U.S. allies against allowing Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei to develop their 5G networks, arguing at the Munich Security Conference that doing so is akin to “choosing autocracy over democracy," CNBC reports.

Why it matters: Pelosi's hawkish stance marks a rare area of agreement with the Trump administration, which believes Huawei is a national security threat because the Chinese government may be capable of accessing its equipment for espionage.

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