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Repeal of individual mandate could raise Nebraska premiums

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Some Nebraska residents could see their health insurance premiums spike in future years now that Congress has effectively repealed a legal requirement to purchase coverage, but advocates say it's too early to know by how much.

The so-called individual mandate was effectively repealed under the Republican congressional tax plan signed by President Donald Trump, who called it "the core of disastrous Obamacare" in his State of the Union speech last week.

The mandate was a key part of the federal Affordable Care Act because it required all residents to have coverage or pay a tax penalty.

Nebraska groups that support the law worry that healthy people who help subsidize everyone's coverage could leave their plans without the mandate, resulting in higher overall premiums.

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