It's been successful if you define making companies operate at a loss a good thing. It's successful if you define "cutting overhead" (jobs), as cutting a hole in the ceiling. It's successful if you define cutting someone's job and redistributing it in the form of a rebate...fairness.
Obamacare Health Insurance Rules Saved Customers $1.5 Billion Last Year: Study
Health insurance companies issued $1.1 billion in rebates and cut administrative costs and profit by $350 million because of the rules, according to the study. The researchers used reports filed by health insurers to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, a group of state regulators, to calculate their findings.
People who buy health insurance on their own, rather than get coverage at work, saw the biggest benefits, the researchers concluded. These consumers got $394 million in rebates, and the companies providing insurance in the individual market reduced overhead by $209 million, according to the report. Health insurance companies saw profits disappear for individual products when compared to 2010. Profit margins fell from 0.15 percent to -1.2 percent, the study found, with profits falling by $351 million.
Although these consumers benefited in the short-term, negative profit margins are cause for concern, the researchers cautioned. If insurance companies can't profit from selling products to individuals, or can't make large enough profits selling to groups to offset other losses, then it could become harder to find coverage in the future, the report said.
"Going forward, if insurers are not able to balance overall profitability in this manner, some might choose to withdraw from less-profitable market segments, which could leave consumers with fewer choices as well as higher premiums,
Obamacare Health Insurance Rules Saved Customers $1.5 Billion Last Year: Study
Health insurance companies issued $1.1 billion in rebates and cut administrative costs and profit by $350 million because of the rules, according to the study. The researchers used reports filed by health insurers to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, a group of state regulators, to calculate their findings.
People who buy health insurance on their own, rather than get coverage at work, saw the biggest benefits, the researchers concluded. These consumers got $394 million in rebates, and the companies providing insurance in the individual market reduced overhead by $209 million, according to the report. Health insurance companies saw profits disappear for individual products when compared to 2010. Profit margins fell from 0.15 percent to -1.2 percent, the study found, with profits falling by $351 million.
Although these consumers benefited in the short-term, negative profit margins are cause for concern, the researchers cautioned. If insurance companies can't profit from selling products to individuals, or can't make large enough profits selling to groups to offset other losses, then it could become harder to find coverage in the future, the report said.
"Going forward, if insurers are not able to balance overall profitability in this manner, some might choose to withdraw from less-profitable market segments, which could leave consumers with fewer choices as well as higher premiums,