How to Expand Insurance Coverage and Keep the Individual Market Healthy
<p>Experts understand that a key to shoring up the individual health insurance market and keeping coverage affordable is to maximize enrollment, especially by enticing healthier people to sign up. Today, 22 million Americans who lack access to employer plans or are ineligible for Medicare or Medicaid get their coverage through the individual market.</p><p>With Commonwealth Fund support, RAND researchers analyzed the potential impact of several options to expand enrollment and bring coverage to more Americans. These include increasing the generosity of tax credits, extending credits to people with higher incomes, and offering reinsurance to insurers. </p>
<p>Analysts Christine Eibner and Jodi Liu find that some of these options would lead to enrollment gains of as much as 5.4 million, although those changes that lead to the most newly covered adults generally come at a higher cost. Still, all the options modeled would accomplish a central goal: increasing the long-term stability of the individual market.</p>