Marketplace Pulse: The Unsubsidized Will Always Be With Us

Understanding the premium increases for individual market plans presents more complications than usual this year because of the ways that states and carriers approached the last-minute suspension of the cost-sharing reduction (CSR) subsidies. In many states, carriers attempted to recapture that lost revenue by increasing the premium of the silver plan relative to other metals. ‘Silver-loading’ gives subsidized non-CSR consumers the opportunity to purchase a relatively more affordable bronze or gold plan. Much has been made of this quirk in market pricing, which is truly beneficial to the subsidized population in a number of states.