Proposals for insurance options that don't comply with ACA rules: trade-offs in cost and regulation
- Collection:
- Health Policy and Services Research
- Series Title(s):
- Issue brief (Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation)
- Author(s):
- Pollitz, Karen, author Claxton, Gary, author
- Contributor(s):
- Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, issuing body.
- Publication:
- San Francisco, CA : Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, April 2018
- Language(s):
- English
- Format:
- Text
- Subject(s):
- Health Care Reform Health Insurance Exchanges Insurance, Health -- organization & administration Federal Government Insurance Benefits Insurance Coverage State Government Humans United States United States.
- Genre(s):
- Technical Report
- Abstract:
- Now in the fifth year of implementation, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) standards for non-group health insurance require health plans to provide major medical coverage for essential health benefits (EHB) with limits on deductibles and other cost sharing. In addition, ACA standards prohibit discrimination by nongroup plans: pre-existing conditions cannot be excluded from coverage and eligibility and premiums cannot vary based on an individual's health status. The ACA also created income-based subsidies to reduce premiums (premium tax credits, or APTC) and cost-sharing for eligible individuals who purchase non-group plans, called qualified health plans (QHPs), through the Marketplace. ACA-regulated nongroup plans can also be offered outside of the Marketplace, but are not eligible for subsidies. Individual market premiums were relatively stable during the first three years of ACA implementation, then rose substantially in each of 2017 and 2018. Last year, nearly 9 million subsidy-eligible consumers who purchased coverage through the Marketplace were shielded from these increases; but another nearly 7 million enrollees in ACA compliant plans, who do not receive subsidies, were not. Bipartisan Congressional efforts to stabilize individual market premiums--via reinsurance and other measures--were debated in the fall of 2017 and the spring of 2018, but not adopted. Meanwhile, opponents of the ACA at the federal and state level have proposed making alternative plan options available that would be cheaper, in terms of monthly premiums, for at least some people because plans would not be required to meet some or all standards for ACA-compliant plans. This brief explains state and federal proposals to create a market for more loosely-regulated health insurance plans outside of the ACA regulatory structure.
- Copyright:
- Reproduced with permission of the copyright holder. Further use of the material is subject to CC BY license. (More information)
- Extent:
- 1 online resource (1 PDF file (8 pages))
- Illustrations:
- Illustrations
- NLM Unique ID:
- 101740242 (See catalog record)
- Permanent Link:
- http://resource.nlm.nih.gov/101740242