Premiums for Obamacare plans will increase by double digits in 2016 should carriers get their proposed hikes accepted.
Premiums for individual plans would rise by an average of 12 percent in 2016 if the newly proposed prices are approved, new analysis from HealthPocket finds.
But that number is even higher for the most popular plans.
Silver plans, the most popular exchange plan during the 2015 open enrollment period and accounting for 67 percent of exchange plan selections, and 2016 rate proposals for silver plans averaged 14 percent higher than premiums in 2015. Meanwhile, gold plans would increase by 16 percent in 2016 from 2015, bronze plans at 9 percent, and platinum plans at 6 percent.
And, consumers enrolled in health maintenance organization and exclusive provider organization plans would face average increases that are higher still—20 percent for HMO plans and 18 percent for EPO plans. By comparison, PPOs were only 4 percent higher, analysis found.
HealthPocket’s analysis comes shortly after the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid released numbers about major carriers proposing rate increases of 10 percent or more.
Still, HealthPocket analyzed rate filing requests for all carriers in major U.S. cities, not just those who want double-digit hikes.
The data is important because, HealthPocket noted, “2016 rates represent the first time Affordable Care Act insurers have had a full year of medical claims data, including the post-deductible period, to determine rates for the new enrollee pools enabled by the law.”
But should the Supreme Court rule the subsidies on the federal exchange invalid, those premium increases will seem very small in comparison. States could raise their rates by 50 percent should the federal government lose in the case, analysis finds.
“Given the possibility of subsidy loss on Healthcare.gov due to the King v. Burwell Supreme Court case,” said Kev Coleman, Head of Research & Data at HealthPocket, “2016 rate proposals are receiving considerable attention. A principal concern is whether these rates are affordable in the potential absence of subsidies.”