Even In First Year Without Individual Mandate, Health Law Marketplaces Were Stable And Profitable, Analysis Finds
A key measure of insurers’ financial strength -- the percentage of premiums insurers collect that they pay back out in spending on claims -- remained relatively strong. Experts say these numbers demonstrate resiliency within the marketplaces despite political turmoil surrounding the health law. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court set a Friday deadline for the Trump administration to respond to Democrats' request to expedite the health law case.
The Hill:
Analysis: ObamaCare Market Stable And Profitable Despite Loss Of Individual Mandate
The ObamaCare market is “stable” and profitable for insurers despite the repeal of the law’s mandate to have coverage, a new analysis finds. When Republicans repealed the health law’s mandate to have coverage in the 2017 tax law, many Democrats and some policy experts warned the move would cause chaos in the markets as healthy people dropped coverage, leaving only sick, expensive patients remaining. (Sullivan, 1/6)
Vox:
Obamacare Looks Surprisingly Sturdy After The Individual Mandate’s Repeal
The individual market continues to go through a soft attrition: Premiums continue to increase, but only slightly, and enrollment is shrinking, again slightly. It’s not a death spiral, but the market is slowly being winnowed to a core customer base: People who get federal assistance to cover their premiums, and unsubsidized customers who don’t receive that help but need good health insurance. (Scott, 1/6)
The Hill:
Supreme Court Sets Friday Deadline For Responses In ObamaCare Case
The Supreme Court on Monday told the Trump administration and a group of states to respond by the end of the week to an effort by Democrats to expedite a challenge to a lower court ruling that struck down a key tenet of ObamaCare. The court asked the health care law's opponents to file a response to the motion by Friday afternoon. Democrats challenging the decision from the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals that ruled the Affordable Care Act's individual mandate unconstitutional asked the Supreme Court last week to expedite a briefing schedule and to hear the case before the current term ends in June. (Neidig, 1/6)
And in other health law news —
The Philadelphia Inquirer:
The Latest Skirmish Over Abortion: Separate Insurance Premium Billing Under Obamacare Plans
Abortion is always a hot-button issue, but the result of the latest wrangling may at first sound trivial: Affordable Care Act health insurance plans that cover abortion — most don’t — will have to send a separate monthly bill for the part of the premium calculated to cover abortion care. Even men with such plans will get a separate bill. Abortion is the only medical service that must be broken out separately by ACA plans. (McCullough, 1/6)
