More people expected to enroll in Obamacare
State officials say reinsurance plan will cut costs, plan marketing drive
State officials expect the number of people who enroll in health plans under Obamacare tojump5.8percentbecauseareinsuranceplan will drive downpremiums.
The increase would come after a 2.5 percent decline in enrollment last year that came when several years of premium increases made insurance plans too costly for some, said Michele Eberle, executive director of the Maryland Health Benefit Exchange, whichmanagesObamacareenrollmentin the state.
Enrollment starts Nov. 1and runs until Dec. 15 for plans that take effect January1.
The agency has earmarked an extra $1 million toward marketing to get the word out to people this year that a plan might fit their budget.
“Wereally want to reach out to people who thought in the past it was not affordable,” Eberle said Wednesday during a meeting with the Baltimore Sun editorial board.
Premiums are decreasing between 7.4 percent and 17 percent because of the reinsurance plan, which creates a pot of money for insurers to help cover the most expensive claims, usually from the sickest patients.
The pool is funded by a tax on insurance carriers that Congress had eliminated at the federal level, but that the state received special permission to maintain. The program was created by a bipartisan state effort to prevent Obamacare from collapsing in Maryland.
About 150,000 Marylanders buy health insurance through the exchange.
CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield and Kaiser Permanente of the Mid-Atlantic States are again the only two insurers offering plans in the state this year. People can browse and compare plans before enrollment through the state exchange website or mobile app.
Rising rates have been a particular hurdle for the 20 percent of consumers who do not qualify for federal subsides.
Eberle said she expects an increase in enrollment even as deductibles are anticipated to increase. The average medical deductible per plan will rise from $4,072 last year to $4,365, according to the Maryland Health Insurance Coverage Protection Commission. Buyers can offset high deductibles with the lower premiums, she said.