ACA enrollees paying first premiums

The nation’s leading health insurers have experienced strong financial results in early 2014, due in no small part to the implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

WellPoint, Aetna Inc. and Health Care Service Corp., which operates Blue Cross Blue Shield plans in five states including Texas, report that a big percentage of their new ACA customers are paying their first premiums, Money Newsreported.

“It would not be unreasonable to question the Republicans’ logic in its recent examination of the percentage of the new Obamacare enrollees that had paid their first premium payments,” says John Santilli of Access Market Intelligence, which provides market intelligence to the pharmaceutical and healthcare industries.

“Making the first monthly premium payment is the last step to confirm enrollment in plans sold under the ACA,” he says.

Health insurers took advantage of the invitation from Republicans on the House Energy and Commerce Committee to testify on enrollment to inform them that more than 80% of their new customers had paid the monthly premium, according to Santilli.

“However, it was not a total loss for the Republicans as they were able to question the areas of health plan cancellations, the potential for premium increases in 2015 and problems that still plague the back end of HealthCare.gov,” says Santilli.