Insurers’ Actuaries Explain Need For Higher Premiums For ACA Plans.

 

The New York Times  (6/9, Pear, Subscription Publication) reports that actuaries typically garner little attention, yet “as they crunch the numbers for their Affordable Care Act business, their calculations are feeding a roaring national debate over insurance premiums, widely used to gauge the success of President Obama’s health care law.” Insurers in most states have submitted their rates for 2017, and many of them are seeking double-digit increases. State officials are still considering the requests, but the Obama Administration says those rates are often reduced significantly, and ACA subsidies will help to keep them low. The article mentions the Geisinger Health Plan, which requested a 40 percent rate increase, and whose chief actuary Kurt J. Wrobel says the rates are influenced by new Federal rules, recent losses, and an ever-changing marketplace.