(CNN) - According to the Urban Institute, Obamacare premiums will rise an average of 18.2 percent next year due to GOP-backed changes to the health law.
The study finds that the combination of repealing Obamacare’s individual mandate and expanding access to cheaper health insurance policies known as short-term plans will lead to the premium increase.
The individual mandate, one of Obamacare’s least popular provisions, requires nearly all Americans to get coverage or pay a penalty.
Health Secretary Alex Azar said that short-term policies will give Americans more choices, so they can find coverage that meets their needs
The Urban Institute estimated that the mandate's elimination, as well as the reduced federal support of open enrollment, would leave about 6.4 million fewer people with coverage by 2019.
Last week, the Trump administration proposed regulations that will make it easier to obtain short-term health insurance plans by allowing insurers to sell policies that last just under a year.
The duration of these policies had been limited to three months by the Obama administration.
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