Regulated Age-Based Pricing in Subsidized Health Insurance: Evidence from the Affordable Care Act

Autor: Pietro Tebaldi, Joe Orsini
Rok vydání: 2017
Předmět:
Zdroj: SSRN Electronic Journal.
ISSN: 1556-5068
DOI: 10.2139/ssrn.2997528
Popis: We study age-rating restrictions in the health insurance marketplaces introduced by the Affordable Care Act. Because most buyers are subsidized, although age-rating restrictions affect pre-subsidy premiums, participation is primarily driven by subsidy generosity rather than pricing decisions. Combining pre and post-reform data on prices and enrollment we find that age-rating restrictions altered pre-subsidy premiums: $230/year for under-50 buyers and -$900/year for over-50 buyers. Accounting for the ACA subsidy design, this regulation decreased federal spending by more than 10%, and reduced participation by 2% (-4% among under-50, 2% among over-50). These effects differ across regions, varying with the age-composition of the uninsured.
Databáze: OpenAIRE