HHS Secretary Azar Issues Remarks on Individual Health Insurance Market Rates

WASHINGTON, Oct. 22 -- The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services issued the following remarks by Secretary Alex M. Azar II on individual health insurance market rates:

* * *

Lower costs and more options for American patients is a key piece of the President's vision for healthcare: an affordable, patient-centric system that puts you in control, and treats you like a person, not a number.

* * *

"We have some important news to share: For the second year under President Trump, benchmark premiums for Affordable Care Act plans on the federal exchange will drop, and the number of options available will increase.

"Lower costs and more options for American patients is a key piece of the President's vision for healthcare: an affordable, patient-centric system that puts you in control, and treats you like a person, not a number.

"The President's approach to the ACA reflects his overall approach to healthcare, which is to protect what works and fix what's broken.

"This administration has made no secret about it: We believe the Affordable Care Act simply doesn't work. It is still unaffordable for far too many.

"But until Congress gets around to replacing it, the President will do what he can to fix the problems created by this system for millions of Americans, including the 29 million Americans who remain uninsured.

"That's included opening up new, affordable options, such as short-term plans, association health plans, and health reimbursement arrangements.

"It's also included his commitment to stabilizing the Affordable Care Act's exchanges and bringing certainty to the market.

"Our efforts are bearing fruit, now for the second year in a row. The premium for the average Healthcare.gov state's second lowest cost silver plan, also known as the benchmark plan premium, will decrease by 4 percent for a 27 year-old. This follows a 1 percent decrease from 2018 to 2019.

"I said last year that President Trump, the President who was supposedly trying to sabotage this law, has been better at running it than the guy who wrote the law--and that has remained the case this year.

"In total, 27 out of the 38 states on the federal exchange are seeing decreases in the benchmark premium.

"There will be 175 issuers offering plans on the federal exchange, an increase of 20 issuers from 2019. Only two states have a single issuer this coming year, compared with five states last year.

"Shoppers on the federal exchange will generally have more options compared with 2019: The average enrollee will have 3.5 issuers available in 2020, compared with 2.8 issuers in 2019.

"Now, it must be emphasized that these premiums are still unaffordable for many. For instance, a 27-year-old single person buying the second-lowest cost silver plan in Nebraska is going to pay $583 a month for coverage, down from $687 in 2019. That's real savings. But she's still going to be spending almost $7,000 a year on insurance premiums, when she could be making as little as $48,000 in income--and she will still have a sizeable deductible to spend through.

"This is not a workable way for Americans to finance the care they need, and that is why we continue to look for ways to open up new alternatives and replace this broken law.

"But we're headed in the right direction. For 2020, Medicare Advantage premiums are down, Part D premiums are down, and now ACA premiums are down. The bottom line under President Trump: Costs are down and choices are up.

"That's what it looks like to deliver the affordability you need, the options and control you want, and the quality you deserve.

"I now want to hand things over to Administrator Verma, to discuss more about the marketplace and how we're improving the experience as best we can for patients under the ACA."