ACA premiums drop for the first time

Kaiser Health News reported on CMS's (Medicare) announcement that for the first time since the health insurance exchanges created by the Affordable Care Act became active in 2014, the average health insurance premium on the exchanges has dropped. While the average premium for individual health coverage dropped only 1.5 percent, it is significant that premiums have dropped at all, especially given two years of "double-digit price hikes."

Not surprisingly, different people attribute the drop to different reasons. One sentiment is that premiums have risen so much over the last couple of years that these plans are now quite profitable. Apparently, the plans are so profitable that new companies will offer plans, expanding people's options.