Diabetes Health in the News Podcast: Newly Insured Sicker Than Other Health Plan Enrollees

According to the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, new policyholders who got health insurance under the Affordable Care Act were sicker than other enrollees. They also had higher medical costs and used more medical care than people who had insurance coverage longer.

This report went even further to describe the incidence of certain conditions. New policyholders had twice the rate of diabetes, twice the rate of hepatitis C, and three times the rate of HIV.

Blue Cross is using these findings to help justify a substantial premium rate increase in many parts of the country. It states that the study was based on claim information for 4.7 million people, two-thirds of which signed up for health insurance in 2014 or 2015.

These findings were published in The New York Times on March 30, 2016.

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