Young, healthy people are likely to prioritize buying gasoline and beer over Obamacare insurance plans, the chief executive of major health insurer Aetna said Tuesday.
Mark Bertolini said he would consider re-entering the Obamacare marketplaces, after his company largely left them this year, but not anytime soon. He said that for Aetna to start selling marketplace plans again, Congress would have to give insurers more assistance to bear the costs of sicker patients, which he doesn’t expect to happen before 2019 or 2020.
Bertolini’s comments, made at Bloomberg’s The Year Ahead Summit in New York City, came a day after the Obama administration announced that Obamacare premiums will spike and plan offerings will be significantly down for 2017.
He brought up a problem that has plagued the Obama administration — convincing enough young, healthy people to enroll so that insurers are bringing in enough revenue to cover sicker patients while keeping premiums lower. With rates jumping next year, it could be a challenge for advocates for the Affordable Care Act to increase the share of healthy enrollees.
“As the rates rise, the healthier people pull out because the out-of-pocket costs aren’t worth it,” Bertolini said. “Young people can do the math. Gas for the car, beer on Fridays and Saturdays, health insurance.”
