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How do people make choices among marketplace plans?

Author(s):
Holahan, John, author
Wengle, Erik, author
O'Brien, Claire, (Of Urban Institute), author
Health Policy Center (Urban Institute), issuing body
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, issuing body
Title(s):
How do people make choices among marketplace plans? / John Holahan, Erik Wengle, and Claire O’Brien.
Country of Publication:
United States
Publisher:
Washington, DC : Urban Institute, September 2023.
Description:
1 online resource (1 PDF file (16 pages))
Language:
English
Electronic Links:
https://www.urban.org/sites/default/files/2023-09/How%20Do%20People%20Make%20Choices%20among%20Marketplace%20Plans.pdf
http://resource.nlm.nih.gov/9918734182906676
Summary:
The incentives in the Affordable Care Act (ACA) Marketplaces are structured to encourage robust competition that will keep premium costs low and affordable for both beneficiaries and the federal government. Premium tax credits are tied to the benchmark, the second-lowest silver premium plan. Marketplace bronze plans are offered at the 60 percent actuarial value level (AV), silver plans at 70 percent AV, and gold plans at 80 percent AV. Individuals eligible for tax credits face the full difference in cost between a higher-priced plan and the benchmark silver plan. Most likely, this will result in less market share for higher-priced insurers. If people choose plans based on price, insurers will face strong incentives to limit networks, reduce provider payment rates, manage utilization, and develop other strategies for keeping premiums low and affordable. However, if individuals choose plans based on other factors such as insurer reputation or breadth of network, the price competition incentives may not work as well. There could also be bifurcated markets where most insurers compete on price, but others compete on insurer reputation and breadth of network.
MeSH:
Health Equity/economics*
Health Expenditures/trends*
Health Insurance Exchanges*
Health Policy*
Insurance, Health/economics*
Medicaid*
United States
Other Subject(s):
United States. Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act
Publication Type(s):
Technical Report
Notes:
Includes bibliographical references.
Copyright Status:
Reproduced with permission of the copyright holder. Further use of the material is subject to CC BY-NC-DC license.
NLM ID:
9918734182906676 [Electronic Resource]

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