So much for the “affordable” part of Affordable Care Act.
Insurers on the New York health exchange are requesting rate hikes averaging 13%, with some companies going as high as 28%.
Via the New York Times:
Some New Yorkers are in sticker shock after receiving notices from their insurance companies saying that they have asked for significant rate increases through the state’s health exchange next year.
The exchange, which has prided itself on being affordable, is now facing requests for increases as high as 28 percent for some customers of MetroPlus, a new entry to the individual insurance market and one of the least costly — and most popular — plans on the exchange this year.
Beth Leibson, a Manhattan resident, received a letter from MetroPlus saying it was working on raising her rate by 28 percent. She said this was a higher one-year increase than any rate rise she had had with previous insurance, including insurance under the federal law known as Cobra, where she paid the entire bill. “It seems to me that this defeats the purpose of ‘affordable’ health insurance,” Ms. Leibson said.
Over all, including plans inside or outside the exchange, insurance companies asked for average rate increases of 13 percent in 2015, the state’s Financial Services Department said Wednesday.
Forbes explains that while the New York Obamacare exchange has been touted as one of the more successful in the country, their approach “continues to make insurance needlessly expensive for the healthiest and youngest enrollees, especially middle-class, uninsured families seeking affordable health insurance.”
The publication also warns that New York has a limited amount of time to make its exchange self-sustaining and get medical costs under control. If not, it will saddle “consumers and taxpayers with ever higher costs.”
Cross-posted at the Mental Recession
