Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Study: Trump spurs ACA cost increases
Uncertainty over subsidies leads to higher premiums
under the Affordable Care Act. The highest is a 49 percent jump in Wilmington, Del. The only decline: a 5 percent dip in Providence, R.I.
About 10 million people who buy policies through healthcare.gov and state-run markets are potentially affected, as are 5 million to 7 million more who purchase individual policies.
Those in the governmentsponsored markets can dodge the hit with the help of tax credits that most of them qualify for to help pay premiums. But off-marketplace customers pay full freight, and they face a second consecutive year of steep increases.
The report found insurer participation in the ACA markets will be lower than at any time since they opened for business in 2014. The average is 4.6 insurers in the states studied, down from 5.1 insurers this year. In many cases, insurers do not sell plans in every community in a state.
The researchers analyzed publicly available filings through which insurers justify their proposed premiums to state regulators. Insurers are struggling with sicker-than-expected customers and disappointing enrollment, and an industry tax is expected to add 2 to 3 percentage points to premiums next year.
On top of that, researchers found that mixed signals from the administration account for some of the higher charges. Those could increase before enrollment starts Nov. 1.
“The vast majority of companies in states with detailed rate filings have included some language around the uncertainty, so it is likely that more companies will revise their premiums to reflect uncertainty in the absence of clear answers from Congress or the administration,” the report said. Once premiums are set, they’re generally in place for a whole year.
Insurers that assumed that Trump would make good on his threat to stop billions in payments to subsidize co-payments and deductibles requested additional premium increases ranging from 2 percent to 23 percent, the report found.
Insurers that assumed the IRS under Trump would not enforce unpopular fines on people who remain uninsured requested additional premium increases ranging from 1.2 percent to 20 percent.