Insurers Plan To Significantly Raise Premiums For ACA Plans

The AP (4/28, Alonso-Zaldivar, Murphy) reports that health insurers are expected to significantly increase premiums for Affordable Care Act plans. Insurance companies say they have suffered massive losses on their ACA plans, “and they’re setting the stage for 2017 hikes that in some cases could reach well into the double digits.” For instance, nine insurers which offer plans in Virginia are requesting increases which “range from 9.4 percent to 37.1 percent.” But HHS spokesman Ben Wakana has stated, “Marketplace consumers would do well to put little stock in initial rate filings. … Averages based on proposed premium changes are not a reliable indicator of what typical consumers will actually pay”