News in Brief

Premiums for ACA exchange plans expected to jump 25% on average

After months of headlines about plans, prices and providers’ participation, the fourth ACA open enrollment period has begun.

After months of headlines about plans, prices and providers’ participation, the fourth open enrollment period in insurance marketplaces created by the Affordable Care Act (ACA) has begun.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services confirmed that benchmark premiums on HealthCare.gov will see on average a 25% rate hike. Average prices for the second cheapest silver-level plan—used as the benchmark to determine premium subsidy levels—had increased by just 7% in 2016 and 2% in 2015.

However, ACASignups.net reports more than 280 million insured Americans won’t be directly affected by the premium hike since they are covered through other plans such as private employers and Medicare. Learn more about the 2017 health insurance marketplace.

Other ACA news:

  • ACA-themed ads are playing a key role in several Senate races with 36% of Senate ads in Arizona and 27% in Missouri targeting the health law, the Associated Press reports. The only state where pro-ACA ads have been regularly featured in a Senate race is Indiana, where about 3% of ads supported the law.
  • Debate over the Affordable Care Act will outlast President Barack Obama. That’s one key takeaway from a poll conducted by POLITICO and Harvard, with 54% percent of likely voters saying that the ACA is working poorly. The poll also reveals that, when provided with six policy choices on how the law should be changed, ranging from full repeal to replacing it with a Medicare-like system for all, no more than 20% of likely voters backed any one of them. Read the Politico article to learn more.

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