CBO projects 15% premium increase for 2018 benchmark plans

The Congressional Budget Office and Joint Committee on Taxation expect premiums for benchmark plans in the non-group health insurance market to increase by roughly 15% in 2018, according to a report released yesterday. The agencies attribute the projected increase largely to “short-term market uncertainty – in particular, insurers’ uncertainty about whether federal funding for certain subsidies that are currently available will continue to be provided – and an increase in the percentage of the population living in areas with only one insurer in the marketplace.”