WASHINGTON — The Affordable Care Act may be controversial, but with enrollments exceeding expectations, it could have a ripple effect that benefits your bottom line.
A study from the Rand Corp. suggests the Affordable Care Act will drive down the cost of car insurance.
Laura Adams of InsuranceQuotes.com says the savings won’t start show up until 2015 or 2016.
“We really won’t see these changes … until there’s a lot more claims data,” she told WTOP’s Veronica Robinson.
Part of your car-insurance premium, Adams explains, goes toward liability coverage, and that goes to treat people who are injured in accidents, particularly those who don’t have health insurance.
“The theory is that if auto insurers are spending less to treat injuries because more consumers have their own health insurance now, those premiums could go down.”
Liability coverage plays a role in many kinds of insurance, Adams says, so the same principle, and the same savings, could apply to worker’s compensation, general business insurance and other types of coverage as well.
The bad news is in malpractice insurance for doctors — such premiums could go up, Adams says.
“As more people have insurance and more people are going to the doctor, there could be more lawsuits against those doctors”
It’s possible that those professional rates could go up, Adams says.
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