Premiums for key plans sold on HealthCare.gov will drop by 4 percent on average next year, with several states seeing double-digit declines, the Trump administration said this morning.
This marks the second straight year that the so-called benchmark premium has dropped and is another sign the Obamacare insurance marketplaces are stabilizing, even as the administration supports a lawsuit that could destroy the health care law.
The Trump administration, which has sought to take credit for stabilizing the law’s marketplaces while also expanding access to cheaper and skimpier alternatives, said 20 more insurance plans will be available when enrollment in 2020 coverage opens next week. In a further sign of the marketplaces’ improving health, just 12 percent of enrollees live in a county with only one insurer selling 2020 plans, down from 20 percent in 2019.
Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, boasting about results on a call with reporters, said President Donald Trump, “who was supposedly trying to sabotage this law, has been better at running [Obamacare] than the guy who wrote the law.” Obamacare supporters have said the improving marketplaces are largely a sign of the law maturing and that the Trump administration has taken steps to undermine the law.
The average premium for the benchmark plan, which is used to calculate subsidies, will drop from $406 to $388 in states relying on the federal enrollment platform, HHS said. Delaware led all states with a 20 percent decrease in its average premium, in part because the state implemented a “reinsurance” program helping insurers afford high-cost patients.
About two-thirds of enrollees receiving subsidies, who make up about 87 percent of the market, will pay less than $75 per month in premiums if they keep the same level of coverage, and about one-third will pay under $10 per month.
Of those earning too much to receive federal help, more than a third will pay over $500 per month in premiums. About another third will pay between $300 and $500.
“These premiums are still unaffordable by many,” Azar said, contending that the law remains fundamentally flawed and must be replaced. “This is not a workable way for Americans to finance the care they need … but we are headed in the right direction.”
High out-of-pocket costs continue to be a challenge. The median deductible for midlevel “silver” plans in the insurance marketplaces is more than $4,600, up 3 percent from this year.
It’s possible a federal appeals court could issue a decision on the validity of the Affordable Care Act by the time enrollment opens Nov. 1. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is reviewing a decision from a federal judge who found the entire law was unconstitutional.
The Trump administration has said it will continue to enforce the health care law while the legal challenge winds through the courts. The final word is likely to come from the Supreme Court next year.
Article originally published on POLITICO Magazine
Source: https://www.politico.com/news/2019/10/22/obamacare-premiums-drop-054262
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The Article Was Written/Published By: dgoldberg@politico.com (Dan Goldberg)
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