Quantum Windbag
Gold Member
- May 9, 2010
- 58,308
- 5,099
- 245
Remember all those news stories about how Obamacare rates are lower than expected? It turns out that they are deliberately comparing next years individual market rates with this years small employer plans. What happens if you compare individual plans to individual plans?
Rate Shock: In California, Obamacare to Increase Individual Health Insurance Premiums by 64-146% - Forbes
If youre a 25 year old male non-smoker, buying insurance for yourself, the cheapest plan on Obamacares exchanges is the catastrophic plan, which costs an average of $184 a month. (Thats the median monthly premium across Californias 19 insurance rating regions.)
The next cheapest plan, the bronze comprehensive plan, costs $205 a month. But in 2013, on eHealthInsurance.com (NASDAQ:EHTH), the average cost of the five cheapest plans was only $92. In other words, for the average 25-year-old male non-smoking Californian, Obamacare will drive premiums up by between 100 and 123 percent.
Under Obamacare, only people under the age of 30 can participate in the slightly cheaper catastrophic plan. So if youre 40, your cheapest option is the bronze plan. In California, the median price of a bronze plan for a 40-year-old male non-smoker will be $261. But on eHealthInsurance, the average cost of the five cheapest plans was $121. That is, Obamacare will increase individual-market premiums by an average of 116 percent.
For both 25-year-olds and 40-year-olds, then, Californians under Obamacare who buy insurance for themselves will see their insurance premiums double.
Rate Shock: In California, Obamacare to Increase Individual Health Insurance Premiums by 64-146% - Forbes