Tailwinds and Headwinds: The ACA Comes of Age in Post-Covid America

The past decade for healthcare in the United States was one of transformation, disruption, and experimentation. Consumer-centric technologies were quickly adopted. Providers consolidated and sites of care shifted. Value-based models became a core focus for the industry. Advanced analytics and machine learning redefined the possible in health tech. Then, as we turned the corner into a new decade, COVID-19 shocked the world.

Against this dynamic landscape, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) has proven resilient, persevering through legal challenges, partisan rancor, and years of adverse market fundamentals. While the ACA’s first decade was characterized by unrelenting challenges, the commencing of the law’s second decade finds reason for collective optimism.

ACA market conditions are increasingly favorable for both consumers and insurers. Improvements in premium affordability, together with a broad expansion of federal subsidies and pro-exchange policies, have made exchange coverage more attractive to consumers. In alignment with the enhanced backdrop, insurers should seek opportunities to establish or grow their exchange footprint, encouraged by growing enrollment, sustained margin expansion, and renewed federal support for the ACA.

This article is provided courtesy of Oliver Wyman. The remainder can be accessed at this link.