How Will The Election Change My Coverage?
This year’s Election Day on Tuesday, November 5th will bring major changes to the political landscape of our country moving forward. Regardless of who becomes president, whoever gets elected will create a ripple effect across business sectors, including the insurance market. The Insurance People’s president, Alexandra Eidenberg, shares her thoughts about how the market will be affected depending on who takes office in January 2025.
From Alexandra:
“I think we're going to see slight (rate) increases in the PPOs and negligible increases in the HMOs. The HMO product lines have really tapered price-wise and the HMO providers have figured out their path. With PPOs that offer much broader services, pertaining to the individual market, the rates keep bouncing up every single year. So we're assuming that the trend continues and we're bracing for that reality. For those in the individual market who receive financial aid, the financial aid continues to expand and we assume, regardless of who takes office in the new year, that the Affordable Care Act will remain in place and continue to offer financial aid.
Should a Democrat be elected, it is likely we’ll see an extension of the enrollment period. For example, December 15th falls on a Sunday this year. The January 1st enrollment date ends on December 15th. Normally, we’ve seen Democrats extend to the 16th, offer people a little slack. In January, when it ends on the 15th, it falls right on top of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. Normally, Democrats would give an extension, allowing for a couple extra days of the enrollment period. If we see a Republican elected, they'll likely make the date a hard stop, with people unintentionally unenrolling. As Democrats and Republicans have been elected, we’ve seen the back-and-forth with the Affordable Care Act dependent on who’s in office.
While it’s hard to predict the future, and especially without rates for Q1, what we do know is that we’ve seen Democrats expand health care and Republicans do the opposite and instead create boundaries on health care. Regardless of what party we're talking about, health care has not been addressed as thoughtfully as it should be. However, Democrats did a lot for Medicare this particular year: the Biden administration limited costs on medications to $2,000 per year. Coming in 2025, medication costs are not only limited to $2,000 a year, you can also create a payment plan for your $2,000. So now, the possibility of spending $150 a month on a payment plan allows people to afford medications more easily. They also found a massive influx of money to pay into Medicare that allowed for premiums to stay low and the formula is staying to stay large.
The current administration has worked hard to expand the rules that qualify people for financial aid, increasing the amount for a family of four up to $250,000 and for individuals, $75,000. The individual market is still so expensive that even if you are receiving financial aid at some of these higher income levels, it still doesn’t offset the cost enough to make insurance affordable. And right now, middle class families, even if you're making $250,000 a year, still cannot afford $2,000 a month in health care. And that’s the state of things at the moment.”
Have a question about how the election will affect your coverage? Contact The Insurance People today.
