Insurers in the individual market performed better financially in the first six months of 2018 than they have in all of the years of the Affordable Care Act, according to a brief released Friday. The brief from the Kaiser Family Foundation shows insurers returning to the levels of profitability seen before the passage of the ACA, but notes recent actions from the Trump administration “cloud expectations for the future.” “Results from mid-2018 suggest that despite significant challenges, the individual market remains stable and insurers are generally profitable,” the brief reads, showing no signs of a “market collapse.” Insurers increased premiums for the 2018 plan year, in some cases by double digits, in anticipation of “uncertainty” about what Congress and the administration would do to the ACA and the administration’s cancelation of key insurer payments, the brief said. But insurers may have overpriced their premiums more than necessary, leading to larger profits. Because of the overpricing, 2019 premiums aren’t expected to increase by much, despite the repeal of the ACA’s individual mandate, which takes effect in January, and the administration’s expansion of non-ACA plans.
Source/more: The Hill