John Commins | September 24, 2014
A year after the healthcare reform law was implemented, HHS Secretary Sylvia M. Burwell says “the evidence points to a clear conclusion: The Affordable Care Act is working, and families, businesses, and taxpayers are better off as a result.”
An additional 77 health insurance issuers will offer plans on state and federal Marketplaces in 44 states next year, offsetting the 14 issuers that are “exiting” the Marketplaces, the Department of Health and Human Services said Tuesday.
“Today, we’re able to announce that in 2015 there will be a 25% increase in the total number of issuers selling health insurance plans in the Marketplace,” HHS Secretary Sylvia M. Burwell said Tuesday in a speech at the Brookings Institution.
“When you consider the law through the lens of affordability, access, and quality, the evidence points to a clear conclusion: The Affordable Care Act is working, and families, businesses, and taxpayers are better off as a result.”
The HHS preliminary data, gleanedfrom 36 state-affiliated Federal Marketplaces and eight state-run Marketplaces, also found that:
• Federal Marketplace states alone will have 248 issuers in 2015, 57 more than in 2014, a 30% net increase.
• The eight state-based Marketplaces where data is already available will have a total of 67 issuers offering plans, six more than in 2014, a 10% net increase.
• Four of the 36 states in the Federal Marketplace will have at least double the number of issuers they had in 2014.
• In total, 36 states of the 44 will have at least one new issuer next year.
• Ten plans on the Federal Marketplace and four plans on the state Marketplace are withdrawing.
HHS said the coverage expansion involves some of the nation’s largest insurance companies that will be offering plans in more than one dozen new states.
Evidence suggests that the expanded coverage options will reduce premiums for consumers too. “Specifically, an increase of one issuer in a rating area is associated with a 4% decline in the second-lowest cost silver plan premium, on average,” HHS said in a media release.
“There is already real evidence these plans are affordable,” Burwell said. “Just last week, the Commonwealth Fund released a study showing that 70% of Americans with Marketplace insurance plans feel they can now afford care if they get sick, and a majority say their premiums are easy to afford.”
What a Difference One Year Makes
Burwell used her 21-minute Brookings Institution speech to tout the PPACA’s accomplishments in its first year of implementation, which came after the rollout debacle last fall had critics questioning the ability of the PPACA to meet critical metrics.
“Back in March, news reports suggested it would take ‘something close to a miracle’ to get to 6 million people,” Burwell said. “Last week we announced that 7.3 million people signed up for Marketplace plans, paid their premiums, and accessed quality, affordable coverage.”
“[Tuesday] we released another significant number: 8 million people enrolled in Medicaid or CHIP since the beginning of Open Enrollment – that’s an increase of nearly 14% compared to average monthly signups before October 1st.”
“In just one year, we’ve reduced the number of uninsured adults by 26%. Said another way, 10.3 million fewer adults are uninsured today than in 2013,” she said. “I firmly believe this is the key measure we should all be looking at, because it represents historic progress on an issue that has eluded our country for more than a century. There isn’t a business in America that wouldn’t be ecstatic with this kind of growth.”
Even with the apparent success of the program, polls show that the PPACA remains unpopular, and Republicans have said they will consider repealing the reforms if they gain control of Senate.
Burwell conceded that PPACA supporters “haven’t done a very good job of explaining why middle-class families who already had insurance are better off.”
“Many middle-class families have more money in their budgets because their insurance company is now required to spend at least 80% of their premium on their care, as opposed to things like marketing. Families have saved an average of $80—money they can put into their electric bill or back into their grocery budget,” she said.
“Meanwhile, millions of seniors are saving billions of dollars on their prescription drugs as we phase out the donut hole. More than 8.2 million seniors have saved more than $11.5 billion since 2010.
“Ultimately, a healthier and more financially secure middle class is good for businesses, who benefit from a healthy workforce and consumers with more disposable income,” she said.
4 Steps for the PPACA
Burwell said HHS will improve upon the ACA’s successes and correct failures.
“Every business in America worth its salt learns from both what went right, and what went wrong,” she says. “We’re taking the same approach, and we have a four-part strategy for moving forward.”
Those steps include:
• Improving access and affordability through the Marketplace. That includes improving management systems, testing, security, and backend functionality.
• Testing new models in Medicare and Medicaid to find cost-effective care options as the healthcare sector evolves from volume to value-base care delivery.
• Bringing more states into the Medicaid expansion.
• Helping consumers understand how to use their new coverage – including the role of prevention and wellness.
Burwell also made a plea for civility in what continues to be a charged partisan debate over the future of “Obamacare.”
“As we work through these issues, I think we need a bit of a course correction in this country when it comes to how we talk about these issues, and it starts with collectively turning down the volume a bit,” she said. “Surely, we’d all agree that the back-and-forth hasn’t been particularly helpful to anyone—least of all the hardworking families who we all want to help.”
Source: Health Leaders Media
http://www.healthleadersmedia.com/print/HEP-308704/HIX-to-Offer-25-More-Plans-in-2015-Says-HHS