New Competition Helps Restrain Marketplace Premium Growth from 2014 to 2015
Health insurance premiums for plans offered through the Affordable Care Act’s marketplaces remained steady or increased only modestly from 2014 to 2015, according to a new Commonwealth Fund–supported study in <em>Health Affairs</em>.<p>Led by researcher Jon Gabel, a senior fellow with NORC at the University of Chicago, the study finds that in markets where one or more new insurance carriers were added to the mix, premiums dropped 1.4 percent for each new entry. Medicaid managed care plans and plans offered through the Consumer Operated and Oriented Plan (CO-OP) Program also helped keep average premium growth on the low side.</p>
<p>Read our new Commonwealth Fund Q&A with Gabel, who discusses his team’s findings and what they mean for marketplace premiums going forward. </p>