Obamacare Premiums Make About-Face, Drop 1.5% for 2019 (1)

Average premiums for Obamacare plans will drop by 1.5 percent in 2019, the first drop since the Affordable Care Act exchanges took effect in 2014, the Department of Health and Human Services announced Oct. 11.

Open enrollment is to be held Nov. 1 through Dec. 15.

“The rhetoric out there on the exchanges has not often matched the facts,” Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Seema Verma said on a telephone call with reporters to announce the 2019 rates for the federal HealthCare.gov exchanges used in 39 states.

“While critics have consistently made promises and predictions that have been ...