Excerpt
A 40-year-old Californian with a moderate income will pay between nothing and $219 a month for a basic health insurance plan next year under President Barack Obama's health care reform law, a state agency announced Thursday.
Covered California, the authority in charge of the state's health insurance exchange, has released details about what the health insurance market for individuals who don't get coverage at work will look like next year. In all, 13 health insurance companies will sell products on the exchange, and premiums will range from 2 percent more to 29 percent less than what comparable plans cost this year, the agency said.
California is not only the most populous state in the U.S., but it also has the highest number of uninsured residents, 7.3 million in 2011. The state is tied for the fourth-highest percentage of residents without health insurance at 20 percent, census data show. The state embraced health care reform soon after Obama signed the law in 2010 and is seen as a bellwether for whether the initiative can succeed.
The results of Covered California's negotiations with health insurance companies belie predictions of massive premium increases under the law, at least for products that offer a range of benefits similar to those currently sold to small businesses.
The average cost of a standard health insurance plan sold on the health insurance exchange will range from $304 to $321 a month in the Golden State next year, Covered California announced. Compared to existing plans with comparable benefits and factoring in available subsidies for low- and moderate-income people, prices like these represent either a small increase or a significant decrease in the monthly costs, the agency said.
"This is a home run for consumers in every region of California," Peter Lee, the executive director of Covered California, said in a press release. 'Our active negotiating will not only benefit potential enrollees to Covered California, but will benefit all Californians by making health care affordable.' California is one of just six states that will use their negotiating leverage to force lower premiums under Obamacare.
Health insurance companies and political opponents of the health care reform law repeatedly have cautioned that its benefit mandates and limitations on industry practices like excluding sick people and charging higher rates to women and older people would dramatically raise premiums.
The evidence to date is mixed. In Maryland, CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield requested that the state approve a 25 percent hike in premiums for individuals for next year. In contrast, two health insurers in Oregon actually scaled back their proposed increases after seeing what their competitors planned.
California Health Exchange
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