Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Approving Stiff Rate Hikes, Tenn. Insurance Chief Says Obamacare Exchange 'Very Near Collapse'
Tennessean: Tennessee Insurance Commissioner: Obamacare Exchange 'Very Near Collapse'
Tennessee's insurance regulator proclaimed the state's Obamacare exchange "very near collapse" Tuesday, after signing off on hefty premium hikes in an extraordinary bid to keep the program afloat. Her remarks largely overshadowing the dramatic premium increases, Commissioner Julie Mix McPeak thrust the issue of preserving competition into the spotlight at a moment when states around the country are grappling with dwindling numbers of insurers willing to sell on the exchange. (Fletcher, 8/23)
Marketplace: Alabama Ends Up With A Single Health-Exchange Insurer
People who buy individual health plans through the federal exchange in Alabama might soon see a big premium jump, anywhere from 26 to 41 percent over last year. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama, soon to be the state’s only health insurance provider, has proposed the rate hike to take effect in 2017. The same is true in other states, and those increases are projected to be steeper than in previous years, according to a new report from the Kaiser Family Foundation. (Douban, 8/23)
Georgia Health News: State Accepts New Hike In Blue Cross Exchange Premiums
The state insurance department Tuesday approved an average premium increase of 21.4 percent for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Georgia for the 2017 health insurance exchange in Georgia. The company earlier had requested an average premium of 15.1 percent, but it raised the request in the wake of Aetna’s pullout from exchanges in Georgia and 10 other states last week. Blue Cross, the largest health insurer in the state, had told GHN late last week that it was considering upping its current premium proposal. (Miller, 8/23)
Houston Chronicle: Uninsured Rate For Young Adults In Texas Drops Dramatically
The number of young adult Texans with health insurance is rising, a new survey shows. That is seen as good news for the Affordable Care Act because the 18-to-34 age group is important for the broader risk pool.The rate of uninsured in that age bracket dropped to 21 percent across the state in March, down from 33 percent in September 2013, a report released Tuesday by the Rice University's Baker Institute for Public Policy and Houston's Episcopal Health Foundation found. (Deam, 8/23)
And in national insurance news --
CBS News: Obamacare Orphan? Here's What You Can Do
After Aetna (AET), the country’s third-largest insurer, announced last week that it plans to sharply scale back its participation in Obamacare, people started counting. With other mega-insurers including Humana and UnitedHealth also edging away from the federal health program, that will leave five U.S. states with only a single insurance carrier offering coverage through the exchanges. ... Here’s what you can do if your insurer is abandoning Obamacare. (Konrad, 8/24)
Morning Consult: Analysis Predicts 10.1 Million Will Be Enrolled In Exchanges At End Of 2016
A new analysis predicts there will be 10.1 million people enrolled in exchange plans by the end of 2016, less than half of the number originally predicted by the Congressional Budget Office in 2010. The analysis, conducted by Avalere Health, is about on par with the Obama administration, which said in January it expects 10 million enrollees by the end of the year. Avalere is an independent consulting firm. (Owens, 8/23)
Morning Consult: Analysis: GOP Obamacare Replacement Plan Would Decrease Coverage, Lower Premiums
The House GOP’s Obamacare replacement plan would decrease coverage over the next 10 years, but lower individual insurance premiums and decrease the federal deficit by $481 billion, according to an analysis publishing today by the Center for Health and Economy and provided in advance to Morning Consult. The Center for Health and Economy is a nonpartisan research organization that provides analysis on health care in the U.S. While the analysis makes several assumptions because of the lack of detail in the Republican plan, it is among the first to evaluate the impact of the proposal. The analysis compares the GOP plan to projections under current law. (Owens, 8/24)
