Post by rmarks1 on Dec 5, 2013 17:04:55 GMT -5
The Affordable Care Act has dramatically increased the cost of buying a health insurance plan on the individual market in California, Texas, Florida, New York, Illinois, Georgia, and North Carolina, states that account for more than half of America’s uninsured adults, according to a study by Sector & Sovereign, a sell-side firm that focuses on advising investors what sectors to put their money in.
Worse, the firm argued in a note earlier this week, the increases in cost are most substantial for the young.
According to S&S, the average deductible – the amount of money you spend out of pocket before your health insurance kicks in– for plans purchased by a 21-year old man in 2013 was $3,649, bought at an average monthly premium of $144. To purchase a plan with the same deductible now, a 21-year-old would have to pay $261, an 81% increase.
For a 40 year old, the 2013 average deductible was $4,045, and the cost increased 29% to $309. For a 64-year-old man, the cost of a plan with a $3,494 deductible increased 64% to $806.
“If you ignore the subsidies, then apples to apples, as best we can tell, it’s more expensive,” says Richard Evans, the lead analyst on the report. “You’ve got to find some basis for comparison and the best we have is deductible and out-of-pocket maxima. The difference is substantial enough that we’re pretty convinced that health insurance is more expensive is 2014 than in 2013.”
The biggest reason for the increase is that many of the cheap plans that existed previously are no longer legal. The number of plans analyzed in those states decreased from 2,000 in 2013 to 1,200 for 2014. Essentially, Evans says, Obamacare “took the bottom of the market away.”
www.forbes.com/sites/matthewherper/2013/12/05/obamacare-raises-health-insurance-costs-especially-for-the-young/
Worse, the firm argued in a note earlier this week, the increases in cost are most substantial for the young.
According to S&S, the average deductible – the amount of money you spend out of pocket before your health insurance kicks in– for plans purchased by a 21-year old man in 2013 was $3,649, bought at an average monthly premium of $144. To purchase a plan with the same deductible now, a 21-year-old would have to pay $261, an 81% increase.
For a 40 year old, the 2013 average deductible was $4,045, and the cost increased 29% to $309. For a 64-year-old man, the cost of a plan with a $3,494 deductible increased 64% to $806.
“If you ignore the subsidies, then apples to apples, as best we can tell, it’s more expensive,” says Richard Evans, the lead analyst on the report. “You’ve got to find some basis for comparison and the best we have is deductible and out-of-pocket maxima. The difference is substantial enough that we’re pretty convinced that health insurance is more expensive is 2014 than in 2013.”
The biggest reason for the increase is that many of the cheap plans that existed previously are no longer legal. The number of plans analyzed in those states decreased from 2,000 in 2013 to 1,200 for 2014. Essentially, Evans says, Obamacare “took the bottom of the market away.”
www.forbes.com/sites/matthewherper/2013/12/05/obamacare-raises-health-insurance-costs-especially-for-the-young/
Bob