3 ms·
There is no evidence because government did not raise the price - the insurance companies did, all while raking in record profits. Premiums in states which ref
by jerrycruncher 10y ago
There is no evidence because government did not raise the price - the insurance companies did, all while raking in record profits.
Premiums in states which refused federal money to expand Medicaid generally rose much, much more than states (like CA) which did not[1].
Cynically, this was likely a designed play by Republicans to kneecap the effectiveness of the ACA by skewing the risk pool towards the elderly (who require more medical care, in general).
[1] https://www.consumeraffairs.com/news/health-insurance-industry-rakes-in-billions-while-blaming-obamacare-for-losses-110116.html https://www.consumeraffairs.com/news/health-insurance-indust...
- rgoddard 10y agoA couple additional pieces to keep in mind. Insurance companies are essentially capped at how much profit they can make on average per subscriber. For large groups 85% of every dollar collected has to be spent on medical expenses, and for small group / individual 80% has to be spent on medical expenses. If they don't meet those standards, the companies need to refund the premium to make up the difference. In the linked article most of their profit would be coming from the large group market. The individual exchange is a separate segment and where they would be suffering those loses. So the desire to not remain in an unprofitable segment is not really negated by being profitable in a completely different segment.