New Data from Texas A&M University Illuminate Findings in Insurance (Affordable Care Act Enrollment In Texas After Rating Area Adjustments): Insurance

2025 JUL 21 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Health Policy and Law Daily -- Current study results on Insurance have been published. According to news reporting out of College Station, Texas, by NewsRx editors, research stated, “To evaluate the association between Texas Affordable Care Act rating area change and health plan enrollment, plan selection, and premiums from 2022 to 2024 for urban and rural counties. Texas integrated a rating area consisting of all 177 rural counties into nearby metropolitan rating areas in 2023.”

Our news journalists obtained a quote from the research from Texas A&M University, “We analyzed this policy using enrollment data from the Marketplace Open Enrollment County-Level Public Use Files from 2022-2024. We calculated the growth in enrollment across rural and urban counties and estimated linear regression models to understand whether enrollment grew faster in rural counties than in urban counties after the policy change. Total marketplace plan enrollment increased by 80% (95% CI, 70%-90%) in urban counties and 76% (95% CI, 68%-84%) in rural counties. Urban and rural counties experienced the largest growth among enrollees aged 35 to 44years (urban: 107%; 95% CI, 94%-119%; rural: 103%; 95% CI, 95%-112%) and enrollees with incomes between 100% and 150% of the federal poverty level (urban: 124%; 95% CI, 106%-142%; rural: 116%; 95% CI, 106%-127%). The share of counties reporting gold plan enrollment increased in urban and rural counties from 70% to 95% and 51%to 93%, respectively. Rating area changes were not associated with differential enrollment changes across rural and urban counties. We found similar growth rates in enrollment for rural and urban counties.”

According to the news editors, the research concluded: “Marketplace enrollees were more likely to choose a gold plan, suggesting that they shifted away from less-expensive bronze plans.”

This research has been peer-reviewed.

For more information on this research see: Affordable Care Act Enrollment In Texas After Rating Area Adjustments. American Journal of Managed Care, 2025;31(6). American Journal of Managed Care can be contacted at: Managed Care & Healthcare Communications Llc, 666 Plainsboro Rd, Ste 300, Plainsboro, NJ 08536, USA.

Our news journalists report that additional information may be obtained by contacting Benjamin Ukert, Texas A&M University, College Stn, TX, United States. Additional authors for this research include Elena Andreyeva, Daniel Marthey and Simon F. Haeder.

The direct object identifier (DOI) for that additional information is: https://doi.org/10.37765/ajmc.2025.89751. This DOI is a link to an online electronic document that is either free or for purchase, and can be your direct source for a journal article and its citation.

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