Humana: Obamacare Delay Resulted in Exchanges Being “more adverse than previously expected”

January 10th, 2014

As a result of the President’s decision to grandfather old plans from last year, Humana has reported in an SEC filing that the risk pools are “more adverse” than selected. This means that the balance between health people and sick people is off-kilter, and that more people with higher costs are in the pools.

The insurance giant Humana is blaming the Obama administration’s proposal to allow people to keep their existing coverage for an “adverse” mix of ObamaCare enrollees.

In a Securities and Exchange Commission filing on Thursday, Humana said that President Obama’s offer to allow states to continue offering plans that don’t meet ObamaCare’s mandated requirements was causing an unbalanced risk pool.

“As a result of the December 2013 federal and state regulatory changes allowing certain individuals to remain in their previously existing off-exchange health plans, the Company now expects the risk mix of members enrolling through the health insurance exchanges to be more adverse than previously expected,” the company said.

The administration proposed the executive action to quell the bipartisan outcry that the healthcare law doesn’t comply with the president’s promise that you can keep your plan if you like it.

The executive action has received a cool reception from some liberals, state insurers and industry groups. Democrats worry that the proposal could undermine the law by allowing limited healthcare policies to compete with the beefier, and often more expensive plans offered through the state and federal exchanges.