Blue Cross Blue Shield NC recently released an article explaining a little of the data that has been collected regarding what North Carolina’s ACA market looks like and how that is affecting health insurance premiums all over the state.  Because BCBSNC is the only company offering health plans on the Marketplace in all 100 counties of North Carolina, they have the largest share of ACA business in the state and perhaps the clearest picture of how the Affordable Care Act has affected the cost of health insurance across the board.

According to BCBSNC, new ACA customers in the state continue to use their health care benefits more than originally expected and for highly expensive medical services.  In fact, according to claims data for 2014 and the first half of 2015, BCBSNC explained two important trends:  First, there was no slowdown in any residual demand for medical services from new customers entering the health insurance marketplace after the induction of the ACA and second, there was a prevalence of more chronic health conditions needing medical treatment. (more…)