Washington Watch  

 

ACA: Premiums to Increase Sharply. Premiums will go up sharply next year under President Obama's health care law, and many consumers will be down to just one insurer, the administration confirmed last week. Before taxpayer-provided subsidies, premiums for a midlevel benchmark plan will increase an average of 25 percent across the 39 states served by the federally run online market, according to a report from the Department of Health and Human Services. (InsuranceNewsNet.com, AP, 10/26)

ACA: The Young to Demur. People who are healthier and younger are more likely to forego buying ACA health plans as they weigh rising premiums against other lifestyle expenses, Aetna CEO Mark Bertolini said at Bloomberg's The Year Ahead Summit in New York. This trend could reduce the proportion of healthy members to more sickly members on the exchange, which could cause premiums to rise even further. Mr. Bertolini said Aetna would reconsider re-entering the exchanges it exited earlier this year if legislators implement changes to help insurers bare the costs of populations that are sicker than first anticipated. (Becker's Hospital Review, 10/26)

ACA: Discontinued Plans. Consumers whose exchange-sold health plans have been discontinued have until Dec. 31 to enroll in a new plan effective Jan. 1, 2017, and the deadline may extend to March 1, though coverage would lapse in the interim. Consumers whose coverage has been discontinued and who do not enroll in another plan by Dec. 15 will be automatically enrolled in a new plan that most closely matches the discontinued plan. (Wall Street Journal, 10/24)