Studies Show Obamacare Marketplace Stabilizing, Not Collapsing
- 7 years ago
There’s been a great deal of talk as of late about the collapse of marketplaces for the Affordable Care Act and the immediate need for its repeal. Recent studies from the Kaiser Family Foundation and Standard & Poor’s Financial Services show otherwise.
There’s been a great deal of talk as of late about the collapse of marketplaces for the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, and the immediate need for its repeal.
Recent studies from the Kaiser Family Foundation, or KFF, and Standard & Poor’s Financial Services (S&P) show otherwise.
KFF reports that, while previous years have shown declines in profits, data from 2017, “offer more evidence that the individual market has been stabilizing and insurers are regaining profitability.”
It further notes an upward swing in, “average gross margins per member per month, or the average amount by which premium income exceeds claims costs per enrollee in a given month.”
S&P, which focused on provider Blue Cross Blue Shield’s activity in 2016, noted a “marked improvement,” in, “operating performance in the Affordable Care Act (ACA) individual market. But target profitability is still a couple of years away.”
Both KFF and S&P express concern over the impact that repeal-and-replace legislation will have on insurers in the near future.
The latter reports, “If the market continues unaffected, with a few fixes rather than an overhaul, we expect 2018…to be one of gradual improvement…But if there are significant changes to the individual market…the market essentially has to restart with a new set of rules.”
It also anticipates that ongoing uncertainty will result in higher premiums for 2018.
There’s been a great deal of talk as of late about the collapse of marketplaces for the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, and the immediate need for its repeal.
Recent studies from the Kaiser Family Foundation, or KFF, and Standard & Poor’s Financial Services (S&P) show otherwise.
KFF reports that, while previous years have shown declines in profits, data from 2017, “offer more evidence that the individual market has been stabilizing and insurers are regaining profitability.”
It further notes an upward swing in, “average gross margins per member per month, or the average amount by which premium income exceeds claims costs per enrollee in a given month.”
S&P, which focused on provider Blue Cross Blue Shield’s activity in 2016, noted a “marked improvement,” in, “operating performance in the Affordable Care Act (ACA) individual market. But target profitability is still a couple of years away.”
Both KFF and S&P express concern over the impact that repeal-and-replace legislation will have on insurers in the near future.
The latter reports, “If the market continues unaffected, with a few fixes rather than an overhaul, we expect 2018…to be one of gradual improvement…But if there are significant changes to the individual market…the market essentially has to restart with a new set of rules.”
It also anticipates that ongoing uncertainty will result in higher premiums for 2018.