STOCK MARKET WATCH -- Tuesday, 14 January 2014

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12. New Obamacare Numbers Show That One Quarter Of Enrollees Are Young Adults

http://www.businessinsider.com/new-obamacare-numbers-show-that-one-quarter-of-enrollees-are-young-adults-2014-1

The Department of Health and Human Services released new Obamacare numbers Monday for the federal exchange and the 14 state exchanges, including demographic information for the first time.
As of December 28, nearly 2.2 million people had selected a plan on the exchanges. Twenty four percent of them were between the ages of 18 and 35.

The White House had wanted 39% of enrollees to be within that age range to prevent insurers from receiving a significant number of high-risk beneficiaries. However, health analysts have noted in recent weeks that the age demographics are not what matters. It's the health mix that is most important.

A recent study by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that if young people made up 25% of enrollees, it would reduce insurer profits by 2-3%, but would not cause a "death spiral" where insurers raise premiums, driving healthy people out of the market, forcing them to raise premiums again and onwards. The administration is confident that the share of young people who sign up will only increase in the coming months.



Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/new-obamacare-numbers-show-that-one-quarter-of-enrollees-are-young-adults-2014-1#ixzz2qNH2BBU8