AHL’s TOP STORY: House Committee Debates Effect of ACA’s Age-Rating Provision

Republican and Democratic members of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health on Friday debated whether certain provisions in the Affordable Care Act would significantly increase health insurance premiums, particularly for young adults in the individual and small-group markets, The Hill‘s “Healthwatch” reports (Viebeck, “Healthwatch,” The Hill, 3/15).

Under the ACA, health insurers must limit premium costs for older adults to no more than three times the cost of premiums for younger people. According to America’s Health Insurance Plans, most states currently use at least a five-to-one age rating band on premiums (Attias/Ethridge, CQ Roll Call, 3/15).

Though insurers have said that premiums will increase under the requirement, Politico reports that their estimates are still just projections and that neither the Democrats nor Republicans have “concrete evidence” to support their conclusions (Winfield Cunningham, Politico, 3/18).

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