ACA Marketplaces: Stressed but Fixable
<p>Recent headlines suggest potential trouble for the Affordable Care Act’s marketplaces. Several insurers have requested double-digit premium increases for 2017. In addition, Aetna announced it is pulling out of some state marketplaces next year, the third major insurer to do so. </p><p>In a new <em>To the Point</em>, The Commonwealth Fund’s Sara Collins and David Blumenthal, M.D., explain that most consumers are unlikely to experience large premium hikes. Eighty percent of marketplace enrollees receive tax credits that will absorb most of the increase. And, marketplace shoppers are highly price-sensitive and will likely shop for the best deal. This price competition is new to the individual insurance market, the authors say, and is likely contributing to the large insurers’ exits.</p>
<p>Collins and Blumenthal also offer solutions to maintain competition and choice for consumers, and make sure those who are eligible for coverage can get it. “The marketplaces are key to the nation’s progress toward universal coverage and their stability demands commitment from private industry and political will on the part of policymakers,” they write.</p>