COVID May Prod Insurers to Give ACA Exchanges Another Look
As the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic continues to reverberate throughout the U.S. economy, it’s become clear that there will be a major enrollment shift away from employer-sponsored plans and into Medicaid and the individual market. And while far more people are covered by Medicaid than individual plans, experts tell AIS Health that the effects on the latter market — and health insurers’ business strategies — are definitely worth watching.
In fact, one recent analysis suggests that there could be “unprecedented growth” in the individual health insurance market, where enrollment has remained static in recent years after Affordable Care Act-triggered expansion. “The impact of COVID-19-related job losses will likely more than double the current enrollment in Individual & Marketplace plans, with the potential for the Individual market to triple in size to over 35 million in a sustained and severe economic contraction,” states the analysis, which A2 Strategy Group released on April 16.