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Health Insurers Charge Higher Premiums on US Exchange
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Individuals are seeing a 13% increase in their premiums on average, small businesses 11%, for health plans sold in 2015 on the federal exchange created by the Affordable Care Act, Lt. Gov. Mary Taylor reports.
The 16 companies filing to sell plans on the exchange in the individual market proposed average premiums of $374.42 versus $332.58 per month per month for the same coverage last year.
For the small group market, the eight companies filing to sell plans proposed average premiums of $446.78 compared to $401.99 in 2014, says a report from the Ohio Department of Insurance. Taylor, a Republican, is also department director.
“It’s bad news, no doubt, but it’s what we expected and it’s what the research we did in advance predicted would happen," said Taylor in a prepared statement. "Ohio traditionally has had a very competitive insurance market, which meant our rates were lower than a lot of other states. That means that Obamacare is hitting us harder and driving our costs up significantly.”
Company premiums ranged from $316.11 to $528.16 for individual market exchange plans, while small group market premiums ranged from $348.87 to $537.96, the insurance department found.
In 2010, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which brought sweeping changes to America’s health insurance system, became law. It provides for the creation of health-care exchanges in which individuals and small-business owners in every state can purchase qualified coverage. The federal government launched open enrollment last October.
Copyright 2014 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
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