New Analysis: Enhanced ACA Could Lead To Lower Premiums & Coverage Gains For Nevadans, Protect Choice & Competition

CARSON CITY, Nev. – As some Nevada lawmakers push for the creation of an unaffordable, new state government-controlled health insurance system known as the state government option, a new analysis by FTI Consulting reveals that proposed Affordable Care Act (ACA) enhancements could reduce net premiums nationwide by 24 percent on average and lead to substantial coverage gains for Nevadans, while preserving competition in the market and protecting choice for consumers.

In contrast, the analysis finds that creating the national public option – an unaffordable new government-controlled health insurance system – could threaten the nation’s private coverage market, reducing choice for Nevada consumers while creating financial challenges for health care providers in the state, who could suddenly face an influx of patients on government plans with lower reimbursement rates.

Key findings of FTI Consulting’s analysis, which was supported by the Partnership for America’s Health Care Future, include:

• Proposed ACA enhancements could reduce net premiums nationwide by 24 percent on average, saving consumers nationwide approximately $10.6 billion annually. 

• Proposed enhancements to the ACA could achieve significant coverage gains nationwide – upwards of five million newly insured individuals on the federal exchange alone – without the creation of the public option or significant disruption to those with private coverage or the health care system writ large.  

• In contrast, creating the public option could threaten private coverage nationally, driving 60 million people – or 40 percent of the market – out of employer-sponsored insurance (ESI) and potentiallyeliminating the private exchange market entirely.

• Implementing ACA enhancements and expanding Medicaid in the 12 non-expansion states – which do not include Nevada – could result in comparable coverage gains among vulnerable populationscompared to the public option – and do so without threatening private coverage.

• Relative to specialized Medicaid managed care plans that prioritize care coordination and address social determinants of health, the public option may not provide the coverage necessary to meet the unique health care needs of at-risk, low-income populations. 

FTI Consulting’s analysis comes as the recently passed American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) “provides Nevadans with a Special Enrollment Period where insured and uninsured Nevadans can take advantage of new, drastically reduced insurance premiums,” Nevada Businessreports.

A recent analysis by the Brookings Institution also highlights the significant resources now available for Nevadans to obtain affordable health coverage under ARPA and concludes that elected leaders in Carson City should take “caution against making lasting changes” to the state’s health care policies “until matters are clearer.”

• To read the full analysis by FTI Consulting, CLICK HERE.

• To learn more about Nevada’s Health Care Future, CLICK HERE.