Two key concerns about Obamacare insurance exchanges appear to have been successfully addressed in the first two years of exchange business.
A study of consumer behavior and insurance choices by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services found that 86 percent of consumers had at least three insurance company plans to choose from for the 2015 coverage year. That was up from 70 percent a year earlier. The study only covered the 35 exchanges in states that chose to have the federal government operate the exchanges.
In addition, these options helped keep premium increases down, HHS said. As an example, the average increase for a popular silver plan in those states rose just 2 percent over 2014. When new insurers entered the marketplace in a county, the study said, premiums dropped an average of 8.4 percent.
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Dan Cook
Dan Cook is a journalist and communications consultant based in Portland, OR. During his journalism career he has been a reporter and editor for a variety of media companies, including American Lawyer Media, BusinessWeek, Newhouse Newspapers, Knight-Ridder, Time Inc., and Reuters. He specializes in health care and insurance related coverage for BenefitsPRO.
