This week, the San Francisco Chronicle published an op-ed by the Petris Center’s Dr. Richard Scheffler and Daniel Arnold. Entitled “Covered California is a Model for the Whole Nation,” the op-ed discusses the findings of their recent Health Affairs paper “Covered California Premium Increases and Consumer Choice.” Although rises in premiums have dominated the news surround the ACA, Scheffler and Arnold use of Covered California enrollment data (California is the only state which makes enrollment data for its marketplace publicly available) paints a very different story of what enrollees paid – with premium prices 15.2% lower than the average offered price in 2016.
The op-ed concludes that the exchange in California was highly effective for consumers and had all the ingredients necessary for competition among insurers – and that Covered California’s success is something the President-elect should look to model.
The full op-ed can be read in the San Francisco Chronicle here.