Insurers Say Most Who Signed Up Under Health Law Have Paid Up
Republican talking point meets drain ....
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/07/us/politics/insurers-say-most-who-signed-up-under-health-law-have-paid-up.html
WASHINGTON — Most of the people choosing health plans under the Affordable Care Act — about 80 percent — are paying their initial premiums as required for coverage to take effect, several large insurers said Tuesday on the eve of a House hearing about the law.
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Paul Wingle, the executive director of exchange operations and strategy at Aetna, said: “As of the third week of April, Aetna had over 600,000 members who had enrolled and roughly 500,000 members who had paid. For those who had reached their payment due date, the payment rate, though dynamic, has been in the low- to mid-80 percent range.” Aetna said it was selling insurance to individuals and families in the exchanges of 17 states.
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J. Darren Rodgers, the chief marketing officer of the Health Care Service Corporation, which offers Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans in Illinois, Montana, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas, said his company had received 600,000 applications through the exchanges in Texas and the four states it serves. On average, according to data provided by Mr. Rodgers, about 15 percent of customers missed their initial payment deadlines from January through April.
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Republicans on the committee said last week that only about two-thirds of people signing up for private health insurance in the federal exchange had paid their premiums as of April 15. Administration officials and congressional Democrats called that statistic grossly misleading. Given the surge in enrollment near the end of March, they said, it is understandable that some policyholders would not have paid by April 15.
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