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News Tip: Blue Cross Moves in Minnesota Reveal Uncertainty in Health Market, Expert Says

Late last week, Minnesota's largest health insurer, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota, announced it would stop selling health plans to individuals and families in the state starting next year. The insurer said extraordinary financial losses drove the decision.

• Quotes: "This move reveals the instability of the individual market,” says Duke University law professor Barak Richman, whose primary areas of research include health care policy. “Since the installation of the Affordable Care Act, insurers and regulators are all still trying to determine the costs associated with these newly insured and the dynamics of offering insurance on the exchanges.”  

“It also reveals the need for insurers and providers to find new ways of offering affordable insurance. This means being creative and cost-conscious in ways that the market did not demand in previous years.”   

• Bio:Barak Richman, a Duke University law professor, also is on the Health Sector Management faculty at Duke’s Fuqua School of Business. His areas of specialty include health care policy.

https://law.duke.edu/fac/richman/ 

For additional comment, contact Barak Richman at: richman@law.duke.edu