Blue Cross Blue Shield: ACA Enrollees Less Healthy, More Expensive

A new report from Blue Cross Blue Shield reveals that its Affordable Care Act enrollees are sicker and more expensive than its other plan members, as a whole.  In fact, they’re nearly twice as likely to be admitted to hospitals. One reason will come as no surprise to critics of the ACA, or “Obamacare:” People who were uninsured and less healthy in the first place have signed up in droves. The act requires participating insurers to provide coverage regardless of any preexisting conditions, and does not allow for variation in pricing for anything other than age or tobacco use. BCBS found that those who enrolled under the ACA are more likely to have diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, heart disease, HIV/AIDS, and depression; hepatitis C is twice as common among ACA enrollees. Part of the original, stated rationale of the plan was to encourage younger, healthier (and presumably lower cost) people to get insurance.