‘According to enrollment data, more than 500,000 Americans using the exchanges purchased plans from UnitedHealthcare. Those consumers will have to purchase new plans in 2017 should the insurance company leave the exchanges, Ed Haislmaier, a health policy expert at The Heritage Foundation, told The Daily Signal.
“What we’re seeing is that insurers are re-evaluating whether this is a good market to go into,” he said. “Some are expanding; others are having problems, and they pulled back. Over time, what you’ll probably see is fewer insurers offering coverage in the exchanges. We’re already seeing that, even though United expanded in 2015 and 2016, insurers offering coverage is down. It’s going to take a few years to play out.”
Compared to its competitors, UnitedHealthcare was slow to offer products on the exchange when Obamacare first went into effect in October 2013 and sold plans in just four states—Colorado, Maryland, Nevada, and New York—in 2014, according to the state-run exchanges and federal exchange, HealthCare.gov.
However, the insurer expanded its exchange coverage substantially in 2015 and 2016, selling plans in 22 states during the 2015 open enrollment period and 34 states during this year’s open enrollment period.
Competitors Aetna and Humana, by comparison, are offering coverage on the exchanges in 15 states.
Haislmaier said that insurers like UnitedHealthcare may not have prepared for how much plans sold on the exchanges would cost them.
“What you’re seeing is the market itself, and this is attributable to Obamacare, is turning out to be a market that’s predominately low-income individuals between 100 to 200 percent of the poverty line,” Haislmaier said. “They’re buying coverage, getting a substantial subsidy, but gravitating toward the low cost-sharing plans where they get extra subsidies. The enrollees have more of an incentive to use more health care, and that makes those plans more expensive [for the insurer].”
For insurers to profit from the coverage offered on the exchanges, Haislmaier said, they must narrow networks or raise prices, both of which impact consumers.
“The ones who have not narrowed the networks or have been behind the curve on pricing are having losses and reevaluating participation,” he said.’ - How Obamacare Could Limit Insurance Options for Americans in These 34 States, daily signal.com, 11/25/2015
“May 02--Some 8 million people, including 151,352 Tennesseans, have enrolled in insurance plans through the Affordable Care Act marketplace, the government said Thursday.
That's just shy of half of the 305,628 Tennesseans the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services determined are eligible to enroll -- 169,740 of them with financial assistance
As in the U.S. overall, females made up slightly more than half of Tennessee enrollees, 55 percent. All but 20 percent of Tennesseans who enrolled were eligible for financial assistance to pay for their insurance plans. Most enrollees -- 72 percent -- opted for the midlevel "silver" coverage, with 18 percent getting a more basic "bronze" plan, and 6 percent and 3 percent, respectively, buying "gold" and "platinum" plans. One percent of Tennesseans chose catastrophic coverage available to certain people.” (1)
Upon further review, one needs to take note of the trend/pattern regarding the inordinate percentage applying for the “silver” coverage. The silver plan affords twin subsidies for those eligible. Twin subsidies? How so?
Depending upon income, number of proposed insured(s) applying regarding the policy, ages of the proposed insured and dependents in the household one can receive a taxpayer subsidy against total premium and a reduction in major medical deductible, reduction in the maximum out-of-pocket under major medical co-insurance and a reduction in doctor office co-pay.
The “silver” plan, via word of mouth, became very, very popular among ACA/Obamacare applicants. Stated alternatively, at the point sale, applicants had already predetermined “silver” as their plan choice by word of mouth referral from prior applicants. Applicants were well aware of the possibility of the twin subsidy regarding the “silver plan” and were seeking the twin subsidy.
Notes:
(1) ACA enrollment ends with 151,000 Tennesseans signed up, 05/01/2014, insurancenewsnet.com
http://insurancenewsnet.com/oarticle/2014/05/01/aca-enrollment-ends-with-151000-tennesseans-signed-up-a-497904.html#.U2u7miUU91u
