Health insurers such as WellPoint Inc. (WLP) and Humana Inc. (HUM) stand to gain $5.5 billion next year to cover losses from Obamacare in a program the law’s opponents label a bailout.

The money, outlined in President Barack Obama’s proposed budget for the fiscal year that begins in October, is designated to help insurers who find the cost of the law higher than expected, based on the percentage of older, sicker people who sign up compared with younger enrollees.

Under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, insurers who record a profit of 3 percent or more on their Obamacare business would put some of the gains into a government-controlled fund. Companies whose claims cost at least 3 percent more than their premium revenue can access the money.

“If you want to insure the uninsured, and you want to set up a competitive marketplace and drive health-system improvement, you’re not going to do that without off-loading some of the risk for insurance providers,” Dan Mendelson, the president of Avalere Health, a Washington consulting firm, said in a telephone interview.