Forecasters say a Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act pricing rule may increase premiums for 65 percent of the affected small groups.
The effects of the PPACA pricing rule on large-group plans will be negligible, the forecasters say.
Analysts at the Office of the Actuary at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services come to those conclusions in a new report to Congress on the effects of PPACA private health insurance requirements on group health premiums.
The CMS is helping its parent, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, with the department’s share of PPACA implementation.
The CMS actuarial office prepared the PPACA impact report to comply with a provision in a 2011 appropriations act.
PPACA includes many provisions that could affect group health prices either directly or indirectly. In the new report, the CMS actuaries looked only at the effects of the PPACA Fair Health Insurance Premiums section. The fair premiums section requires insurers in the small-group market to offer coverage on a guaranteed-issue, guaranteed-renewable basis, with an adjusted community rating system.
The fair premiums section exempts large groups.