Health insurers regaining pre-ACA profitability: 3 things to know

Financial data for the first half of 2018 show that health insurers selling policies on the ACA exchanges are returning to profitability, according to an Oct. 5 brief published by the Kaiser Family Foundation.

Here are three things to know from the report:

1. Health insurers participating on the ACA's individual marketplaces saw better financial performance in the six months ended June 31, 2018, than in all the early years of the ACA.

2. Nationwide, some markets are still lacking robust competition and balanced risk pools. However, if there are no large-scale policy changes, KFF said it is likely health insurers would have only needed modest premium increases in 2018 and 2019 to regain profitability.

3. While there are signs health insurers are regaining pre-ACA profitability, regulatory changes such as repeal of the healthcare law's individual mandate penalty and increased access to loosely-regulated short-term insurance plans muddy these projections.  

For the full KFF report, click here.

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