The EPA's new lead rule: How one expert crunched the numbers

A program that undergirds the Affordable Care Act’s health insurance marketplaces continues to bolster the balance sheets of large Blue Cross Blue Shield companies, according to a STAT analysis of new federal data.

Conversely, that same program — called “risk adjustment” — has created substantial financial burdens for startup insurers including Bright Health Group, which has now exited all health insurance markets, and Friday Health Plans, which has shut down.

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More than two dozen BCBS insurers are projected to collect more than $4.7 billion from competing insurers on the ACA marketplaces, according to the analysis. The biggest amounts are concentrated among a few dominant Blues conglomerates.

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