Nevada recently became the third state to offer one of the plans on the ACA marketplaces. They're intended to be a cheaper insurance option but so far they make only a marginal difference in price.
Analysis & Context
Nevada recently became the third state to offer one of the plans on the ACA marketplaces. They're intended to be a cheaper insurance option but so far they make only a marginal difference in price. This article provides comprehensive coverage and analysis of current events.
Nevada recently became the third state to offer one of the plans on the ACA marketplaces. They're intended to be a cheaper insurance option but so far they make only a marginal difference in price.
Health State public-option health plans expand but can't fill gaps left by federal changes February 18, 20265:00 AM ET From By Jazmin Orozco Rodriguez The Nevada State Capitol is seen on January 17, 2021, in Carson City, Nevada during a nationwide protest called by anti-government and far-right groups supporting US President Donald Trump and his claim of electoral fraud in the November 3 presidential election. - The FBI warned authorities in all 50 states to prepare for armed protests at state capitals in the days leading up to the January 20 presidential inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden. (Photo by Ronda Churchill / AFP) (Photo by RONDA CHURCHILL/AFP via Getty Images) RONDA CHURCHILL/AFP/Getty Images hide caption toggle caption RONDA CHURCHILL/AFP/Getty Images More than 10,000 people have enrolled in Nevada's new public-option health plans, which debuted last fall with the expectation that they would bring lower prices to the health insurance market. Those preliminary numbers from the open enrollment period that ended in January are less than a third of what state officials had projected. Nevada is the third state so far to launch a public option plan, along with Colorado and Washington state. The idea is to offer lower-cost plans to consumers to expand health care access. But researchers said plans like these are unlikely to fill the gaps left by sweeping federal changes, including the expiration of the subsidies for plans bought on Affordable Care Act marketplaces. Sponsor Message Health A familiar move with a new twist: Trump tries to cut CDC funds he just signed into law The public option gained attention in the late 2000s when Congress considered but ultimately rejected creating a health plan funded and run by the government that would compete with private carriers in the market. The programs in Washington state, Colorado, and Nevada don't go that far – they aren't government run, but are private-public partnerships that compete with private insurance. In recent years, states have considered creating public-option plans to make health coverage more affordable and to reduce the number of uninsured people. Washington was the first state to launch a program, in 2021, and Colorado followed in 2023. Washington and Colorado's programs have run into challenges, including a lack of participation from clinicians, hospitals, and other care providers, as well as insurers' inability to meet rate reduction benchmarks or lower premiums compared with other plans offered on the market. Nevada law requires that the carriers of the public-option plans — called "Battle Born State Plans" after a state motto — lower premium costs compared to a benchmark silver plan in the marketplace by 15% over the next four years. But that amount might not make much difference to consumers with rising premium payments from the loss of the ACA's enhanced tax credits, said Keith Mueller, director of the Rural Policy Research Institute."That's not a lot of money," Mueller said. Sponsor Message Three of the eight insurers on the state's exchange, Nevada Health Link, offered the state plans during the open enrollment period.Insurance companies plan to meet the lower premium cost requirement in Nevada by cutting broker fees and commissions, which prompted opposition from insurance brokers in the state. In response, Nevada marketplace officials told state lawmakers in January that they will give a flat-fee reimbursement to brokers. The public option has faced opposition among state leaders. In 2024, a state judge dismissed a lawsuit, brought by a Nevada state senator and a group that advocates for lower taxes, that challenged the public-option law as unconstitutional. They have appealed to the state Supreme Court. Federal changes create more obstacles Nevada is consistently among the states with the largest populations of people who do not have health insurance coverage. Last year, nearly 95,000 people in the state received the enhanced ACA tax credits, averaging $465 in savings per month, according to KFF, a health information nonprofit that includes KFF Health News. But the enhanced tax credits expired at the end of the year, and it appears unlikely that lawmakers will bring them back. Nationwide ACA enrollment has decreased by more than 1 million people so far this year, down from record-high enrollment last year of 24 million. About 4 million people are expected to lose health coverage from the expiration of the tax credits, according to the Congressional Budget Office. An additional 3 million are projected to lose coverage because of other policy changes affecting the marketplace. The changes to the ACA in Republicans' One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which President Donald Trump signed into law last summer, will make it more difficult for people to keep their coverage, said Justin Giovannelli, an associate research professor at the Center on Health Insurance Reforms at Georgetown University. These changes include more frequent enrollm
