Trending News Today: Insurance Actuaries Caution Against Individual Mandate Repeal

Insurance experts are warning against a repeal of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) individual mandate because it could cause premiums to skyrocket and insurers to leave the marketplace, The Hill reported. GOP legislators said that the Senate bill—which includes the individual mandate repeal—would help low-income Americans who cannot afford to purchase insurance; however, the actuaries warn that getting rid of the incentive for healthy people to get insurance would lead to an imbalance of sick enrollees and subsequently push costs up, according to the article.

Yesterday, House Republicans proposed a package of bills that would delay ACA taxes, according to The Hill. The bills would delay taxes on medical devices for 5 years, on insurance for 2 years, and the Cadillac tax for 1 year, which were all implemented under the ACA, according to the article. Additionally, the package would repeal fines for employers who do not offer insurance. Although the bills have only gained support from the GOP thus far, the packages was introduced after negotiations with Democrats on delaying the taxes, according to the article.

Due to recent concerns about direct-to-consumer drug advertising, the FDA plans to examine whether physicians and patients can determine if an ad is deceptive, according to STAT. The FDA noted that inaccurate or deceptive ads can lead to unnecessary prescribing, which may put patients at risk. They also said that they are looking for new, effective ways to determine whether ads are correct, according to the article.