By Paul O. Catenacci
Law firm of Novara Tesija, P.L.L.C

This past March marked year six of President Obama’s Affordable Care Act. Over the course of those six years, we have seen a dramatic change in the way Americans buy and use health insurance.

Employers with more than 50 employees must now provide health care coverage, or pay a fine. Pre-existing condition limitations, as well as annual and lifetime dollar limits, have been completely eliminated. Nearly all health care plans now offer a variety of preventive services without cost sharing. And, by way of a complex web of taxes and fees, private insurance companies have insured millions of Americans that previously went without health insurance. The goal of these reforms was to first stabilize, and then over time, bring down the cost of health care.

While that may happen in the future, it has yet to materialize. In addition, many of the insurance companies who took on those previously uninsured Americans are now exiting the marketplace, or dramatically raising premiums.

United Health Group, the nation’s largest health insurer, is pulling out of the so-called Exchanges in all but a few states. Michigan is one of the states in which United is exiting the market. The reason, according to United, is massive financial losses. These losses were sustained despite the substantial system of subsidies for insurance companies set up by the federal government and funded through assessments of taxes on private and unionized health plans across the country.

While United is the largest player to drop out, it is not alone. Although not pulling out entirely from the system of Exchanges, both Blue Cross Blue Shield and Anthem are scaling back the menu of benefit packages available to consumers. While the Exchanges are not going away entirely, these actions will certainly hurt consumers. Those without insurance from their employer or their Union will have fewer choices, and the choices that remain will cost them more money.

In fact, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation, the cost of the benchmark plan across all major American cities will rise 10.1 percent in 2016. The departure of United Health will also leave a hole that new insurers will attempt to fill. Those insurers will likely offer deep discounts on plans initially as they try and gain a foothold in the market, but history suggests these low entry prices will not last long. As a result, while the introduction of new insurers may benefit a few consumers initially, over time those on the Exchanges are all likely to end up facing higher and higher costs as insurers pass on the increases to their customers in order to maintain and increase profits.

While union-sponsored plans are not immune to the rising costs of healthcare, they are better positioned to withstand them on account of their singular purpose. Union plans exist solely to serve the membership that pays for them. That direct focus on the membership results in entities focused on one thing and one thing only - putting themselves in the best position to provide Union tradesmen and tradeswomen with the very best health benefits. This stands in stark contrast to the business of insurance and insurance companies that must balance the best interest of the people they insure against the profit driven demands of executives and shareholders. And, as we have seen far too often, the scales rarely tip in the consumer’s favor.