Policy Approaches to Insure High Risks

This study will simulate how three policies advanced as ways to stabilize the ACA health insurance markets–high-risk pools, reinsurance and invisible high-risk pools–would likely affect insurer liabilities, plan premiums, patient out-of-pocket costs and government spending. The simulations will consider several ways of defining high-risk enrollees, vary the parameters of the three policies, investigate the role of persistence of high risk status and incorporate multiple sensitivity analyses. Results can help inform federal and state policymakers seeking to stabilize the ACA exchanges.