35% of those signed up for Obamacare don't use it

[Thinker101]

Nearly 12 million enrollees, or 35 percent of all exchange enrollees in 2024, do not use their benefits at all.

Many zero-claim enrollees are known as “phantoms”—people who are enrolled but not practically in the market because they are enrolled in other coverage or are unaware of their exchange plan coverage. Large insurers benefit greatly from phantom enrollment, as they collect billions of dollars in taxpayer funds to cover individuals who cost them nothing.

Our analysis shows that these enrollees are not just healthy enrollees with no need for care. They are part of a larger story about how Biden COVID credits are driving perverse incentives. Insurers and middlemen are responding to these incentives, and unscrupulous brokers are enrolling anyone they can.

Sounds like a whole lotta fraud going on with Obamacare.

Ghostbusting ACA Fraud: Millions Who Don’t Use Their Health Insurance Expose Abuse in the Program

 

[JGalt]

Nearly 12 million enrollees, or 35 percent of all exchange enrollees in 2024, do not use their benefits at all.

Many zero-claim enrollees are known as “phantoms”—people who are enrolled but not practically in the market because they are enrolled in other coverage or are unaware of their exchange plan coverage. Large insurers benefit greatly from phantom enrollment, as they collect billions of dollars in taxpayer funds to cover individuals who cost them nothing.

Our analysis shows that these enrollees are not just healthy enrollees with no need for care. They are part of a larger story about how Biden COVID credits are driving perverse incentives. Insurers and middlemen are responding to these incentives, and unscrupulous brokers are enrolling anyone they can.

Sounds like a whole lotta fraud going on with Obamacare.

Ghostbusting ACA Fraud: Millions Who Don’t Use Their Health Insurance Expose Abuse in the Program

This is a lot like in 2012, where it was discovered that Barack Obama's Twitter audience was 41% fake and 29% of the accounts who followed him were inactive.

 

[1srelluc]

OK, so there are only 10 million of the 22 million enrolled that actually use it....Talk about your tempest in a teapot "issue".

 

[NewsVine_Mariyam]

Nearly 12 million enrollees, or 35 percent of all exchange enrollees in 2024, do not use their benefits at all.

Many zero-claim enrollees are known as “phantoms”—people who are enrolled but not practically in the market because they are enrolled in other coverage or are unaware of their exchange plan coverage. Large insurers benefit greatly from phantom enrollment, as they collect billions of dollars in taxpayer funds to cover individuals who cost them nothing.

Our analysis shows that these enrollees are not just healthy enrollees with no need for care. They are part of a larger story about how Biden COVID credits are driving perverse incentives. Insurers and middlemen are responding to these incentives, and unscrupulous brokers are enrolling anyone they can.

Sounds like a whole lotta fraud going on with Obamacare.

Ghostbusting ACA Fraud: Millions Who Don’t Use Their Health Insurance Expose Abuse in the Program

Isn't that what the insurance companies actually want or is it different for healthcare?

I was taught that when people purchase insurance the money paid in premiums goes to pay for claims for those who need to use their insurance. So if you have a bunch of people who are paying in but never file a claim, isn't that good for the insurance company. In other words that's by design, it's a feature not a bug?

 

[JGalt]

Isn't that what the insurance companies actually want or is it different for healthcare?

I was taught that when people purchase insurance the money paid in premiums goes to pay for claims for those who need to use their insurance. So if you have a bunch of people who are paying in but never file a claim, isn't that good for the insurance company. In other words that's by design, it's a feature not a bug?

Tell that to Joe Biden. The reason the ACA has such high premiums and deductibles is because of Biden's American Rescue Plan and Inflation Reduction Act. It was in those bills that the subsidies were set to end after 2025, leading to higher costs for those using the ACA.

 

[Dekster]

Nearly 12 million enrollees, or 35 percent of all exchange enrollees in 2024, do not use their benefits at all.

Many zero-claim enrollees are known as “phantoms”—people who are enrolled but not practically in the market because they are enrolled in other coverage or are unaware of their exchange plan coverage. Large insurers benefit greatly from phantom enrollment, as they collect billions of dollars in taxpayer funds to cover individuals who cost them nothing.

Our analysis shows that these enrollees are not just healthy enrollees with no need for care. They are part of a larger story about how Biden COVID credits are driving perverse incentives. Insurers and middlemen are responding to these incentives, and unscrupulous brokers are enrolling anyone they can.

Sounds like a whole lotta fraud going on with Obamacare.

Ghostbusting ACA Fraud: Millions Who Don’t Use Their Health Insurance Expose Abuse in the Program

Unless they take advantage of free vaccines, a lot of people may not utilize their health insurance i.e. have a claim in a year. A lot of people only use it for the ER type situation. I have never in my adult life met my individual deductible and it has been probably 5-6 years since I sought medical care for anything other than a jab. Not everyone runs to the doctor seeking antibiotics every time they sneeze.

 

[MarathonMike]

Nearly 12 million enrollees, or 35 percent of all exchange enrollees in 2024, do not use their benefits at all.

Many zero-claim enrollees are known as “phantoms”—people who are enrolled but not practically in the market because they are enrolled in other coverage or are unaware of their exchange plan coverage. Large insurers benefit greatly from phantom enrollment, as they collect billions of dollars in taxpayer funds to cover individuals who cost them nothing.

Our analysis shows that these enrollees are not just healthy enrollees with no need for care. They are part of a larger story about how Biden COVID credits are driving perverse incentives. Insurers and middlemen are responding to these incentives, and unscrupulous brokers are enrolling anyone they can.

Sounds like a whole lotta fraud going on with Obamacare.

Ghostbusting ACA Fraud: Millions Who Don’t Use Their Health Insurance Expose Abuse in the Program

Imagine that. Democrats can't coverup the corruption anymore, and there is corruption everywhere the GOP looks.

 

[Greenbeard]

Sounds like a whole lotta fraud going on with Obamacare.

We use an insurance model to finance health care because half the population consumes virtually no care in any given year and ten percent of the population accounts for half of all health care spending. It's not "fraud" it's literally how insurance works.

 

[leftwinger]

Imagine that. Democrats can't coverup the corruption anymore, and there is corruption everywhere the GOP looks.

Many of these were ghost registrations, signed on by corrupt NGO. And they are 100% subsidized. Some were tied to real people who had no idea someone had signed them up.

Another Obiden scam uncovered.

 

[dblack]

Isn't that what the insurance companies actually want or is it different for healthcare?

I was taught that when people purchase insurance the money paid in premiums goes to pay for claims for those who need to use their insurance. So if you have a bunch of people who are paying in but never file a claim, isn't that good for the insurance company. In other words that's by design, it's a feature not a bug?

LOL - yep. ACA was always about bailing out the insurance companies.

 

[dblack]

Imagine that. Democrats can't coverup the corruption anymore, and there is corruption everywhere the GOP looks.

Better stash those mirrors!

 

[dblack]

We use an insurance model to finance health care because half the population consumes virtually no care in any given year and ten percent of the population accounts for half of all health care spending. It's not "fraud" it's literally how insurance works.

ka-ching!

 

[DGS49]

I signed up for term life insurance for 50 ******* years and never cashed in! Dammit!

 

[Greenbeard]

I signed up for term life insurance for 50 ******* years and never cashed in! Dammit!

Fraud!

 

[leftwinger]

ka-ching!

It is fraud when registrations are phony.

 

[JoeB131]

Nearly 12 million enrollees, or 35 percent of all exchange enrollees in 2024, do not use their benefits at all.

Many zero-claim enrollees are known as “phantoms”—people who are enrolled but not practically in the market because they are enrolled in other coverage or are unaware of their exchange plan coverage. Large insurers benefit greatly from phantom enrollment, as they collect billions of dollars in taxpayer funds to cover individuals who cost them nothing.

Our analysis shows that these enrollees are not just healthy enrollees with no need for care. They are part of a larger story about how Biden COVID credits are driving perverse incentives. Insurers and middlemen are responding to these incentives, and unscrupulous brokers are enrolling anyone they can.

Sounds like a whole lotta fraud going on with Obamacare.

Ghostbusting ACA Fraud: Millions Who Don’t Use Their Health Insurance Expose Abuse in the Program

Um, you only use it if you get sick.

A lot of people are enrolled in programs with a high deductable, so if it's just a quick trip to the doctor for a cold, they aren't going to fill out a lot of paperwork to make a claim.

This is a non-issue.