Sticker Shock: Obamacare Doubling Many Americans’ Health Insurance Rates

The implementation of Obamacare will significantly increase health insurance premiums for many Americans, often doubling what they paid in the past.

To make matters worse, some individuals are reporting significant increases in copays and even cuts in service. Worst of all, there seems to be no logic or pattern to the increases. Some examples of what’s happening include:

• Amy and Andy Mangionne of Louisville, Kentucky, reported that their health insurance rates would increase by 24 percent – even with subsidies. Their copay would increase from $125 per doctor’s visit to $350 per visit.
• George Pitts of Albuquerque, New Mexico, saw his health insurance health premium rise from $139.63 to $431 a month. “I looked at the numbers and said that there’s no way I could afford this,” Pitts told a TV reporter. Pitts’ insurance company told the TV station that the cost was because of added expenses due to Obamacare
• Obamacare will increase the price of premiums for 99 percent of men and 62 percent of women, according to Forbes magazine writer Avik Roy. Roy based his claims on a study of data from the Department of Health and Human Services done by the Manhattan Institute.

Subsidies are part of the law, but they apparently don’t make up the difference for the majority of Americans.

“Most people will not receive enough in subsidies to counteract the degree to which Obamacare drives premiums upward,” Avik Roy wrote. He further said that “middle-class Americans face the double-whammy of higher insurance premiums, and higher taxes to pay for other people’s subsidies.”

The data seems to contradict a statement made by President Obama in 2012: “You should know that once we have fully implemented, you’re going to be able to buy insurance through a pool so that you can get the same good rates as a group that if you’re an employee at a big company you can get right now — which means your premiums will go down.”

Price Increases Vary Widely from State to State

Obamacare’s effect on health insurance prices varies widely from state to state, Roy noted. The Manhattan Institute’s research indicates that premiums will rise in some states and fall in others. To make matters worse, the effects are different for men and people of different ages.

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Some of the findings include:

• The average health insurance premium for a 27-year-old man in Virginia will rise by 67 percent under Obamacare. Meanwhile, the health insurance premium for a 64-year-old man in Virginia will fall by 19 percent.
• Health insurance premiums for all women in Virginia will rise. A 27-year-old woman in the state will see her premium increase by 21 percent, a 40-year-old woman by 7 percent and a 64-year-old woman by 3 percent.
• One of the few states that will see a decrease in premium costs is Colorado. The average health insurance premium for a 27-year-old man in the state will fall by 36 percent from $272 a month to $173 a month. The average premium for a 40-year-old will fall by 34 percent a month from $322 to $212 a month and the premium for a 64-year-old will fall by 33 percent a month (from $746 to $498).
• The biggest sticker shock is in New Mexico. A 27-year-old man in that state will see his average premium rise by a staggering 146 percent, from $70 to $172 a month. A 40-year-old New Mexico man will see his premium rise by 94 percent, from $108 to $210 a month and a 64-year old man will see his premium rise by an astounding 159 percent, from $191 to $494 a month. Women also don’t get any break in the state. A 27-year-old lady will see her average premium go from $74 to $172 a month — a 132 percent increase — and a 40-year-old woman will see an increase of 80 percent, from $113 to $210 a month. A 64-year-old woman will get hit with an increase of 160 percent, from $190 to $494 a month.

A map from the Manhattan Institute and Forbes  breaks the effects of Obamacare on individual health insurance policies down by state. Unfortunately, information for only a few states is available, but it appears that in most states rates will increase.

The new law has forced unwanted changes nationwide. As previously reported by Off The Grid News, hundreds of thousands of New Jersey residents recently received letters informing them that their health insurance plan would not exist after the first of the year. Why? Because their current plants don’t cover all the benefits mandated by Obamacare.