Mark Farrah News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

Insurers are likely to pay $1.1 billion in Affordable Care Act medical loss ratio rebates in 2024, according to a new analysis.

It is now clear that at least half of any net increase in total health insurance coverage during the first year of Obamacare will be as a result of its expansion of Medicaid.

In 2017, very little changed in net health insurance coverage, but below the surface, some significant shifts occurred in sources of coverage. In 2017, net enrollment in private and public coverage increased by only 191,000 people. The individual market, however, lost nearly 1.8 million enrollees in 2017—a decrease of 10.5 percent in a single year—dropping from 17 million people at the end of 2016 to 15.2 million at the end of 2017. That drop occurred almost entirely among people who did not qualify for Obamacare subsidies.

In a new analysis, Richard G. Frank and Conrad Milhaupt examine the increased spending directed to related businesses by parent companies of Medicare Advantage plans.

While enrollment in individual market coverage grew by almost 6.3 million, 61 percent of that gain was offset by a reduction of nearly 3.8 million individuals with employer-sponsored coverage. During the same period, Medicaid enrollment increased by almost 6.1 million—principally as a result of Obamacare expanding eligibility to able-bodied, working-age adults.