Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (PA)
6/5/2018
June 05--Individual
insurance premiums for plans sold on the Affordable Care Act's marketplace are
going up by an average of 4.9 percent in Pennsylvania next year, according to
the state Insurance Department.
The relatively
small increase comes even as the "individual and small group insurance
markets have been subject to intense and deliberate sabotage by the federal
government in the past year," according to a Tuesday news release from the
department.
The department
cited federal government decisions to shorten the period of time in which
people can sign up for the plans and to eliminate the requirement in 2019 that
everyone have health insurance.
It also cited
President Donald Trump's decision last year to eliminate federal funding for
added benefits that had been included in plans for the lowest-income
policyholders. The department cited that change last year when it approved an
average rate increase of 30 percent for the plans. Increases averaged about 33
percent the year before that.
About 389,000
Pennsylvanians had bought the individual ACA plans and were paying their
monthly premiums as of April, according to Centers for Medicare and Medicaid
Services data. Most people with the plans don't pay the full percentage
increase each year, since federal subsidies adjust their premiums according to
their income. The rate increases don't affect people who get their insurance
through an employer.
The statewide
average increase of 4.9 percent could include big variations in rate changes by
region and by plan around the state. Insurers filed proposed rates on May 21.
The Insurance Department isn't going to release region- or plan-specific rates
until July 21. Under federal law, the department reviews rate increases and can
approve or deny the requests.
The Congressional
Budget Office has estimated premiums will rise an average of 15 percent around
the country in 2019, attributing 10 percent of the increase to the elimination
of the requirement that everyone have insurance.
The GOP included
language eliminating the requirement in the tax overhaul. Insurers have said
the repeal will require price increases in the ACA's individual insurance
marketplace because more young, healthy people will likely choose to go without
insurance, leaving older, sicker people with higher medical bills in the
"pool" of those paying for insurance.
Pennsylvania's
uninsured rate of 5.6 percent is the lowest recorded in the state, according to
the Insurance Department.
Wes Venteicher is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at
412-380-5676, wventeicher@tribweb.com or via Twitter
@wesventeicher.
___
(c)2018 The Tribune-Review (Greensburg, Pa.)
Visit The Tribune-Review (Greensburg, Pa.) at www.triblive.com
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
No comments:
Post a Comment