Dive Brief:
- HHS Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell says the Obama administration is working to better educate marketplace health insurance consumers about total plan costs, as opposed to premiums alone.
- Unexpected costs appear to be contributing to the trend in which consumers sign up for plans but then drop them mid-year, often after obtaining care and costing plans money.
- By equipping HealthCare.gov to estimate customers' actual health expenses, HHS is hoping to help people select the most appropriate plans and reduce the likelihood they will drop them.
Dive Insight:
Costs incurred from Obamacare dropouts could prove a major factor in whether insurers will opt in or out of participation in the ACA marketplaces, so solutions may be paramount. UnitedHealth put the spotlight on the issue this month with news it might exit the markets due to millions in losses, and other insurers are reporting similar concerns.
Aetna Chief Financial Officer Shawn Guertin was quoted by Bloomberg Business saying consumers are purchasing coverage but "then staying for only a few months and then dropping again, and obviously getting service along the way.”
As healthcare policy expert Joseph Antos of the American Enterprise Institute added, “The insurers are absolutely right that this has to be truly viable, it has to be a market where people intend to buy insurance for the long haul."