Two-thirds of consumers purchasing plans on Affordable Care Act marketplaces gravitated toward the lowest or second-lowest-priced plans in 2014. In 2015, half of marketplace participants purchased the cheapest plans, according to a HHS analysis.
As a result, insurers have lost hundreds of millions of dollars, according to The New York Times. Such instability has raised questions about big health insurers’ future presence in ACA marketplaces and what types of plans they will offer. For instance, Minnetonka, Minn.-based UnitedHealthcare and Louisville, Ky.-based Humana said they will, for the most part, exit ACA marketplaces next year. Hartford, Conn.-based Aetna recently said it will not expand into any other states’ ACA exchanges.
In response to losses, large and small insurers are vying for high rate increases for 2017, which may impede consumers’ plan purchases even more. However, the Obama administration is confident the marketplaces will last for years to come, according to the report. Last Thursday HHS said the individual risk pool is actually improving year-over-year, and an increasing number of young, healthy individuals are entering the marketplace.
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