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Just Released
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Enrollment in Individual Market Dips
Slightly in Early 2019 after Repeal of Individual Mandate Penalty
Marketplace
Enrollment Holds Steady, While Unsubsidized Off-Exchange Market Continues to
Shrink
A new KFF analysis finds that overall enrollment in the
individual market fell 5% to 13.7 million in the first quarter of 2019
following the repeal of the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate penalty.
The analysis provides an early look at how the
market is working following recent policy changes that some argued would
spark dramatic upheaval among consumers who buy their own health insurance
either through the Affordable Care Act’s marketplaces or through off-exchange
plans.
The decline of about 651,000 customers stems
entirely in the off-exchange market, where purchasers are ineligible for tax
credits and must pay the full cost of insurance themselves. Enrollment in
marketplace plans held steady at 10.6 million during the first quarter of
this year, including 9.3 million low- and moderate-income enrollees who
receive tax credits to help cover their plan’s premiums.
The year-to-year overall decline is far smaller
than the previous two years (a drop of 2.1 million or 11% in 2018 and 1.9
million or 12% in 2017) when premium increases rose more rapidly than they
did in 2019 and become less affordable to middle-income consumers ineligible
for tax credits. While affordability remains an issue for that group, the
analysis suggests that the size of the individual market could be relatively
stable overall if premium increases remain modest and tax credits continue.
The numbers also provide some perspective on the
often hot debate over the ACA’s marketplaces. More than 150 million people
are covered through the employer market, 11 times the number covered in the
individual market overall and 14 times the number covered through the
marketplaces.
Filling the need for trusted information on
national health issues, the Kaiser Family Foundation is a
nonprofit organization based in San Francisco, California.
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Thursday, August 22, 2019
Enrollment in Individual Market Dips Slightly in Early 2019 after Repeal of Individual Mandate Penalty
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