By Stephanie Armour Oct. 22, 2019 9:00 am ET Premiums for the most popular health plans sold under the Affordable Care Act will drop for the second consecutive year, the Trump administration said Tuesday, as the law enters its 10th year and shows increasing signs of stabilizing.
Premiums climbed rapidly in the law’s early years, with benchmark rates rising 37% between 2017 and 2018, in part because insurers initially underpriced plans and lost money when people were sicker than expected. The drop in rates for 2020 could boost sign-ups when open enrollment for ACA plans begins Nov. 1—and could also have political ramifications for the law’s opponents and supporters.
“A second year of declining premiums and expanding choice is proof that our actions to promote more stability are working,” said Seema Verma, administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The health law has been controversial from the start, and lawmakers have seized on enrollment statistics and premium changes to buttress claims that it is either working or imploding.
But administration actions have also been cheered by some insurers, employers and states, including its approval of waivers under the ACA that let states lower premiums through reinsurance programs. Reinsurance provides money to insurers who cover people with expensive health conditions so the costs aren’t passed on in the form of higher rates for other consumers.
Meanwhile GOP still actively trying to destroy it behind the scenes
ACA is good legislation because it sought to give Ms of 🇺🇸s something they didn't have as opposed to giving more of something they already had (Trump tax cuts)
Health insurance journalists don’t do good job when reporting Obamacare. Whenever you talk about insurance costs, you must ALWAYS mention deductibles. Deductibles have gone WAY UP, and continue to go up, preventing patients to use. Even if premium is 0$, it’s a useless insurance.
Sky-high deductibles, crap coverage, and surprise billing. Prices do not go down in an employer-sponsored insurance oligopoly. The regulators are captured as well so insurance companies are destroying people with their lawlessness. The U.S. is not a democracy, it is an oligarchy.
Protect the ACA!!!!
Very surprising (but good to hear) in spite of the GOP-led trims since 2017.
MediCareforAll
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