Insurers aren’t necessarily worried about problems as dramatic as last year’s HealthCare.gov failure, but rather what one industry official called “a soup of kind of icky things” that could make life difficult for returning enrollees.
Some of the technical problems stem from the difficult balance between keeping people enrolled and encouraging them to shop for a better deal. Due to complicated behind-the-scenes changes in the way the law’s tax credits are calculated, people who automatically renew their policies, without taking another pass through the enrollment system, are at risk for particularly large and often surprising cost increases.
To offset the risk of widespread premium hikes, the administration will encourage existing customers to go back through the system, update their personal information, and shop for a better deal. People who are willing to change plans can insulate themselves from most premium hikes—but that’s where the technology starts to get tricky.
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