For Obamacare premium increases in 2015, there's good news and there's bad news.
First, the bad: premiums will go up for 65 percent of existing policies under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, according to a report from the McKinsey Center for U.S. Health Care Reform.
But on the bright side, the increase won't be as bad as some have feared, with McKinsey reporting the median PPACA increase will be a modest 4 percent.
Recommended For You
"However, the actual increase they pay could be less than half that amount, given that many people will have the option of switching to a lower-price place," McKinsey said in its report. The changes in net premiums for the subsidy-eligible are likely to vary significantly, MckInsey also said.
The consulting firm reached this conclusion after analyzing premium filings from 19 states. But there is a caveat: The information is still considered preliminary since the exchanges haven't gone live yet.
PPACA's open enrollment runs Nov. 15-Feb. 15.
Just how much premiums will increase in 2015 has been a major bone of contention for the health care industry and for PPACA proponents and critics. Predictions have been all over the board.
Analysis of preliminary state filings from PriceWaterhouse Coopers predicted PPACA premiums are slated to increase by an average of 7.5 percent in 2015. Researchers there studied more states — they analyzed filings from 27 states and the District of Columbia, and found that the average premium will be $384, before subsidies.
A much more dire prediction came earlier this year, when a Morgan-Stanley survey of 148 brokers concluded that health premiums are rising so sharply that, in some states, increases are in the triple-digits.
McKinsey's analysis also found that competition and choice are set to increase in 2015.
"In the 41 states releasing exchange participation carrier data, the number of health insurers increased by 26 percent between 2014 and 2015. In the 19 states with complete fillings, the number of products grew 66 percent, with most in the silver tier," McKinsey said.
© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
