Study finds state-level individual mandates could insure more, decrease premiums
The study, released by the
On average, premium costs would drop nationwide by nearly 12 percent, the study said, if every state joined
These mandates would replace the Affordable Care Act's (ACA) penalty for not having health insurance, a fee that
The ACA requires most Americans to enroll in an insurance plan or pay a financial penalty -- a move intended to stabilize insurance markets by encouraging healthy people to purchase and stay enrolled in a health plan. Now that the mandate penalty will be eliminated as of
If states acted on their own to replace the federal mandate, the new report made the following findings:
--Millions more people would gain health insurance. Implementing state individual mandates across the country in 2019, when the federal penalties are lifted, would reduce the number of uninsured by 3.9 million -- a decrease of 11.4 percent. In 2022, there would be 7.5 million fewer uninsured Americans.
--Premiums would drop by an average of nearly 12 percent. If all states adopted an individual mandate, marketplace premiums would fall by an average of 11.8 percent. The impact would vary across states, depending on how many healthy people re-enroll in the marketplaces. The larger the share of healthy enrollees in individually purchased plans today, the greater the impact on premium rates. In
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--Uncompensated care costs would decline dramatically. When patients are uninsured and can't pay their medical bills, state and federal governments, as well as physicians, hospitals and community health centers, absorb the costs of this uncompensated care. As more people gain coverage under state mandates, demand for uncompensated care would fall by
"Although the repeal of the individual mandate penalty will have negative effects across our health care system, states can act to keep their health insurance markets stable and affordable by offsetting the expected coverage losses and premium increases beginning in 2019," said
The report was also authored by
Email: [email protected] and follow on Twitter @WendyHoldren
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