The health insurance exchanges were meant to lower premiums through competition. So what happened this year?

Reema Khrais Oct 30, 2017
HTML EMBED:
COPY

The health insurance exchanges were meant to lower premiums through competition. So what happened this year?

Reema Khrais Oct 30, 2017
HTML EMBED:
COPY

It’s sign up season for the Affordable Care Act. Open enrollment starts on Wednesday. Government numbers out today show that almost half of the population live in places where they can only choose from three or fewer insurers. Not much competition, so you’d expect premiums to be high. But in other places, there’s seven, eight or even 10 insurers in the market, and premiums have still gone up considerably. Why exactly? Seems this year insurers aren’t necessarily looking at each other to set premium prices.  

Click the audio player above to hear the full story. 

There’s a lot happening in the world.  Through it all, Marketplace is here for you. 

You rely on Marketplace to break down the world’s events and tell you how it affects you in a fact-based, approachable way. We rely on your financial support to keep making that possible. 

Your donation today powers the independent journalism that you rely on. For just $5/month, you can help sustain Marketplace so we can keep reporting on the things that matter to you.