Skip to main content

ACA premium rate reading list

29 May 2013
There has been a lot of talk about whether healthcare premiums are going to increase or not under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA). With that in mind we've put together a list of articles and studies that should help increase awareness of how health reform may affect premium rates.

- KearneyHub.com " Will next year's insurance premiums go up or down?
Many individuals are interested to know if health exchange premiums are going to increase or decrease in 2015. This article quotes Milliman's Jim O'Connor discussing how 2014 rates will influence next year's rates. The article also points out certain variables that may increase rates.

- Columbia Journal Review " What's health insurance really going to cost?
CJR reporter Trudy Lieberman identifies seven tips to help individuals understand factors that will contribute to the setting of health exchange rates in 2015.

- Wall Street Journal " Health Plans Rush to Size Up New Clients (subscription required)
This Wall Street Journal article provides perspective on how insurers are gathering data from health plan enrollees to help set future premiums. The article quotes Milliman's Tom Snook:
"In the past, the whole game was about risk selection," said Tom Snook, an actuary with Milliman Inc. who works with insurers offering plans on public exchanges. "Now the game's all about risk management."

- Columbia Journalism Review " Untangling Obamacare: Rate shock
This article considers several issues of interest to the public related to "rate shock" and the affordability of premiums.

- Columbia Journalism Review " Untangling Obamacare: What's behind the rate increases?
The Columbia Journalism Review (CJR) aims to help individuals understand factors that are affecting how health coverage is priced.

- Columbia Journalism Review " Exchange Watch: No drama in Vermont's insurance rates
In this article, CJR's Lieberman discusses how existing state regulations may determine whether individual insurance rates increase or decrease in 2014 for products sold on the ACA exchange. In Vermont, premiums are decreasing compared to 2013.

- Center for Advancing Health "Is health insurance sticker shock for real?"
This article assesses factors related to healthcare reform that may influence the affordability of premiums.

- The New York Times " "Premium shock' and "premium joy' under the Affordable Care Act
In this article, Princeton economics professor Uwe E. Reinhardt offers perspective on the shift from medically underwritten premiums to community-rated premiums under ACA.

- Understanding ACA's subsidies and their effect on premiums
This blog offers perspective on the relationship between healthcare premiums and federal subsidies for lower-income individuals.

- Healthcare cost: Manage the causes, not the effect
Milliman's Ronald Harris and Tom Snook provide perspective on the underlying causes that contribute to growing healthcare costs.

- Comprehensive assessment of ACA factors that will affect individual market premiums in 2014
This report, completed for America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), helps explain how ACA coverage expansion, new benefits, and market reforms will impact individual market health insurance premiums in 2014.

- Factors affecting individual premium rates in 2014 for California
This report, completed for Covered California, evaluates possible changes in individual health insurance premiums related to the implementation of ACA in 2014.

- CNN Money
The chart below illustrates possible premium changes for men and women of different ages who buy insurance on the individual market.


About the Author(s)

We’re here to help