Humana CEO: Reform's age-rating rule will raise costs

Tools

The healthcare system isn't exactly in the best of shape, says Humana CEO Bruce Broussard, because it's too expensive, operates within silos and doesn't focus on the whole patient.

Broussard, who assumed the chief executive role Jan. 1, added that the reform law, particularly the age rating provision, didn't exactly help the situation. The rules limiting how much higher insurers can charge their older members could actually make premiums increase, reported the Louisville Courier-Journal.

"The public today is probably under a misconceived notion that healthcare is going to go down," Broussard said Thursday at the Rotary Club of Louisville. "And we think that insurance is actually going to go up--and the reason being, is because of the way the pricing model being is set today" based on the 3:1 age rating ratio.

That means the young and healthy consumers will subsidize the older and unhealthy consumers. Broussard said he's heard statistics that healthcare costs could increase "all the way from 40 percent to 70 percent."

But the Humana CEO isn't completely sour on the reform law. "Some good things happened with reform," Broussard said, noting it helps more people obtain health insurance. But 2014 will still be a "bumpy road" as insurers await more information and guidance regarding major provisions, Business First reported.

Of utmost importance, insurers are "waiting with baited breath" to learn the details of state-run health insurance exchanges. "We're supposed to do something in nine months and we're not knowing what we're supposed to do," Broussard said, according to the Courier-Journal.

To learn more:
- read the Business First article
- see the Louisville Courier-Journal article

Related Articles:
Premiums will rise 42% for young adults under reform
Young adults may forgo coverage due to 'rate shock'
Blues plans recommend reform law changes
Insurers move forward on exchanges, but with caution
Humana changes leadership as succession plan unfolds