After early struggles, major Obamacare provider Blue Cross Blue Shield will break even this year, a new financial analysis concludes.
"After starting on the wrong foot in 2014, and deteriorating further in 2015, we are seeing the first signs in 2016 that this market could be manageable for most health insurers," the report from Standard & Poor's Global Market Intelligence said. "But it isn't on stable footing either."
The Healthcare Marketplace launched in 2014 and BCBS was forecast to hit target profitability in 2018, but that could change if further legislation is implemented under President Donald Trump and a new Congress.
Trump campaigned on the promise that he would repeal and replace Obamacare, but the first GOP healthcare bill didn't even see a floor vote because it didn't get enough backing from its own party.
The S&P report shows that the ACA individual market is not in a "death spiral" despite claims by Republicans that it is. It also describes a "fragile" market that has started to stabilize.
"If the market continues unaffected, with a few fixes rather than an overhaul, we expect 2018, or Year 5 of the ACA individual market, to be one of gradual improvement with more insurers reporting positive (albeit low single-digit) margins," the report said.
© 2024 Newsmax. All rights reserved.