Study Finds Only A Third Of Insurers Made Money On Marketplace Plans In 2014
Overall profits for insurers were down because of higher payouts, the Commonwealth Fund reports. Also in the news, a look at how hospitals might trim insurance costs and many Minnesota residents may be missing health insurance subsidies.
The Hill:
Most Insurers Lost Money In First Year Of ObamaCare: Study
Only about one-third of health insurers came out ahead in their first year in the ObamaCare marketplace, according to a study by the Commonwealth Fund released Wednesday. While insurers made nearly twice as much money from healthcare premiums in 2014, overall profits “diminished noticeably” because of higher payouts, according to the expansive new analysis on companies participating in the exchanges. (Ferris, 7/20)
CNBC:
Only A Third Of These Obamacare Insurers Made Money On Their Plans In 2014
The report by the Commonwealth Fund also reveals that insurers who did the best selling Obamacare plans had average profits of only around 8.5 percent, while those who fared the worst financially had steep losses that averaged nearly 22 percent. The study further found that the medical costs faced by those insurers were only about 2 percent higher than what they had expected when they priced their plans, which went on sale in October 2013. (Mangan, 7/20)
Bloomberg:
How Hospitals Relieve The Pain Of New ACA Health-Care Costs
When it comes to lowering health plan costs in the face of changes brought on by the ACA, hospitals have advantages that other employers don't. ... One way for hospitals to lower the costs of the benefits they offer is to make changes that incentivize employees to seek care in their own health systems. This can be done through lower copays or deductibles, [Peter Bresler, practice leader of Willis Towers Watson's health system consulting in Chicago] said. Hospitals also can form a “narrow or high-performance network,” which is a health plan offering a smaller choice of doctors and hospitals in exchange for lower fees, he said. (Knebel, 7/20)
Star Tribune:
Report: 107,500 Minnesotans Who Qualify Aren't Tapping Insurance Subsidies
A new report suggests that about 107,500 Minnesotans last year weren’t tapping federal tax credits to discount health insurance premiums, even though they qualified. In some cases, people eligible for subsidies might have simply skipped the tax credits, because the dollar value was small. But there also could be information gaps where people either didn’t realize they were eligible, or didn’t know where to go for subsidies, according to findings presented Wednesday during a MNsure board of directors meeting in St. Paul. (Snowbeck, 7/20)
