Whilesome insurers gave up on the ACA marketplace due tohigher-than-expected losses in the first couple years, others thathave stuck around have been able to generate profits.

After the initial disruption caused by the Affordable Care Act,the individual insurance market appears to have stabilized andincreasingly resembles the group market, finds an analysis by theCommonwealth Fund.

Historically, individual plans have been cheaper due to the factthat insurers could deny coverage to those with expensive medicalconditions. When the ACA prohibited that practice, premiums andper-member spending in the individual market predictably shotup.

Related: More insurers returning to ACAmarketplaces

Average individual premiums increased from $242 to $347 between2013 and 2014, the first year of the ACA's implementation. Duringthat time, average medical claims in the individual market rosefrom $210 to $296.

In the three subsequent years, the cost of individual planscontinued to rise, but not nearly as dramatically. By the end of2017, the average premium of an individual plan was nearlyidentical to that of a small group or large group plan.

• Large group: $422
• Small group: $440
• Individual: $420

Medical claims in the individual market are also about the sameas in group plans.

• Large group: $375
• Small group: $367
• Individual: $360

While some insurers gave up on the ACA marketplace due tohigher-than-expected losses in the first couple years, others thathave stuck around have been able to generate profits, the analysisfinds, due to price increases.

"In fact, in terms of profitability, the individual marketperformed better than it did before the ACA," write Mark A. Halland Michael J. Cue. "This more sustainable pricing has resulted inpremiums that are very close to those for small- and large-grouppolicies."

The study authors urge caution in interpreting the nationalanalysis. In some markets, the picture is not nearly as pretty andthe analysis takes into account cheaper plans that are notACA-compliant.

"Nevertheless, the view from this vantage point depicts muchmore market convergence than divergence, at least through 2017,"they conclude. "It remains to be seen whether this relativestability will persist following increased availability of plansthat are not compliant with the ACA in the individual andsmall-group markets and judicial challenges to the ACA'sconstitutionality."

Read more: 

• CMS official numbers: Obamacare signups down,premiums (and subsidies) up
• CMS's Verma comes to the ACA marketplace'sdefense
• When it comes to health care costs, number ofmarketplace competitors matters less than type