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  • Analysis of UnitedHealth Group’s Premiums and Participation in ACA Marketplaces

    Issue Brief

    This analysis looks at how a potential withdrawal by UnitedHealth Group from the Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplaces in 2017 could impact insurer competition and premiums, finding a significant impact in some markets, though it would have a minimal effect on the average benchmark premium nationwide, The impacts of a UnitedHealth withdrawal would vary considerably by state and market area, with a more pronounced effect in rural areas. Since UnitedHealth often is not one of…

  • JAMA Forum: Reports of Obamacare’s Demise Are Greatly Exaggerated

    Perspective

    In this post for The JAMA Forum, the Kaiser Family Foundation's Larry Levitt discusses UnitedHealth’s exit from Affordable Care Act marketplaces, the possibility of bigger premium increases in 2017, and why these challenges are unlikely to significantly affect long-term sustainability of the market and the law.

  • What to Look for in 2017 ACA Marketplace Premium Changes

    Perspective

    This brief discusses the key factors that will influence the rate changes that insurers are requesting in 2017 Affordable Care Act (ACA) Marketplaces, including current premiums, forecasted enrollment changes, increases in price and use of services, changes in policy design or network, changes in law or regulation, and competition.

  • Medicare Advantage 2016 Spotlight: Enrollment Market Update

    Issue Brief

    This Data Spotlight reviews national and state-level enrollment trends as of March 2016 and examines variation in enrollment by plan type and firm. It analyzes the most recent data on premiums, out-of-pocket limits, Part D cost-sharing for drugs, and plans’ quality ratings for Medicare Advantage enrollees.

  • Medicare Part D: A First Look at Prescription Drug Plans in 2017

    Issue Brief

    This issue brief provides an overview of the 2017 Medicare Part D stand-alone prescription drug plan marketplace, based on analysis of data from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. The brief focuses on data for 2017 and changes over time in plan availability, premiums, benefit design, cost sharing, and low-income subsidy plan availability.

  • Raising Medicare Premiums for Higher-Income Beneficiaries: Assessing the Implications

    Issue Brief

    As policymakers consider ways to slow the growth in Medicare spending as part of broader efforts to reduce the federal debt or offset the cost of other spending priorities, some have proposed to increase beneficiary contributions through higher Medicare premiums. This issue brief explains provisions of current law that impose income-related premiums under Medicare Part B and Part D, describes recent proposals to modify these requirements, and analyzes the potential implications for the Medicare population.

  • Health Reform and the Art of Federalism

    Perspective

    The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recently announced significant changes to the premiums charged in the Pre-existing Condition Insurance Plan (PCIP), aka the "high risk pool" created by the Affordable Care Act. Premiums will now be up to 40% lower depending on the state (in some states the cost to enrollees is unchanged), and application procedures will be eased. The PCIP plans provide coverage for people who cannot buy coverage in the…

  • Peering Into the Black Box of Insurance Rating

    Perspective

    Recently, the New York Times reported that private health insurers continue to seek large premium increases despite seeing lower than expected use of medical care and booking record profits. The story highlights a significant problem for health policy: the lack of good, public information about how health insurers manage health care use and what they pay for medical services. As a nation, we rely on competition among largely private health plans to ensure that health…

  • Who Will be the H&R Block and TurboTax for Health Insurance?

    Perspective

    There's been quite a bit of focus lately insofar as these issues go, anyway on health insurance agents and brokers (sometimes known in the industry as "producers"). They are pushing legislation that has been introduced in Congress and is now being studied by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners that would exempt agent and broker commissions for health insurance from minimum medical loss ratio (MLR) thresholds established in the health reform law. (The MLR is…

  • The Budget Trigger and Health Reform

    Perspective

    No doubt it will take some time to sort out how elements of the debt deal (formally "The Budget Control Act of 2011") will all work. Delving into the details of how it affects subsidies in the Affordable Care Act (ACA) to make insurance more affordable helps to illustrate how complex this business can be. Let's start with a short primer on the ACA subsidies. Starting in 2014 people buying insurance on their own in…