King v. Burwell: What a Subsidy Shutdown Could Mean for Insurers
How would a Supreme Court ruling for the plaintiff in <em>King v. Burwell</em> affect consumers, insurers, providers, and states? In the second post of a series on The Commonwealth Fund Blog, Joel Ario, Michael Kolber, and Deborah Bachrach of Manatt Health Solutions discuss how health insurers, which have enrolled record-high numbers since the ACA’s coverage expansions, would be affected by a decision ending subsidies for residents of the 34 states that have federally run health insurance marketplaces.<br /><br />
Most of the more than 7 million people who would lose subsidies are likely to drop their coverage, the authors say, leaving an individual insurance market where sick people outnumber healthy people and claims costs quickly exceed premium revenues.