Dive Brief:
- Based on data on the 2015 Affordable Care Act health plans offered through 38 state exchanges, released Friday, it appears that the average bronze premium decreased, the average platinum premium increased and the average premiums for silver and gold plans remained the same.
- One of the factors that may have positively influenced the average premiums in the 2015 market is increased competition. The government estimates that the number of exchange insurers is 25% higher in 2015 as compared to 2014. In the 44 states for which the government had data for this estimate, 77 new insurance issuers were documented for 2015.
- While the initial data is good news for consumers, 12 states plus the District of Columbia are not included within the 2015 landscape data released by the government. The list of missing states is below and includes California which historically has been among the largest of state markets for individually-purchased insurance.
Dive Insight:
It's true that healthcare.gov 2.0 is easier to navigate, but the insurance mandate's success hinges on health insurance being affordable. Because premiums spiked during first year of the Affordable Care Act, many consumers were reticent to enrolling. Many consumers rely on federal subsidies in order to afford insurance and those subsidies are at risk thanks to King v. Sebelius, recently taken on by the Supreme Court. Therefore, the trend in average premiums portrayed in the landscape data, as well as the spike in competition, is encouraging.
