Obamacare Premiums to Drop Slightly in 16 Cities

[Triana]

BY KAISER HEALTH NEWS | SEPTEMBER 8, 2014

By Jay Hancock

In preliminary but encouraging news for consumers and taxpayers, insurance filings show that average premiums will decline slightly next year in 16 major cities for a benchmark Obamacare plan.

Prices for a benchmark “silver” or mid-priced plan sold through the health law’s online marketplaces aren’t all moving in the same direction, however, a report from the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) shows. (Kaiser Health News is an editorially independent program of the foundation.) In Nashville, the premium will rise 8.7 percent, the largest increase in the study, while in Denver it will fall 15.6 percent, the largest decrease.

But overall the results, based on available filings, don’t show the double-digit percentage increases that some have anticipated for the second year of marketplace operation. On average, rates will drop 0.8 percent in the areas studied.

“If you’re the government, this is great news,” said Larry Levitt, KFF senior vice president. “Competition in the marketplaces is helping drive down the cost of the tax credit” that subsidizes coverage for lower-income consumers.

THE REST:

http://www.governing.com/news/headlines/khn-obamacare-premiums.html

[Tarheel_Dem]

1. K&R

[enlightenment]

2. Slightly disingenuous reporting,

though that is because of the way the KFF parsed it.

In preliminary but encouraging news for consumers and taxpayers, insurance filings show that average premiums will decline slightly next year in 16 major cities for a benchmark Obamacare plan.

That isn't true, really.
Seven states show reductions ranging from Denver's -15.6% to NYC's -0.7%
Nine states show increases ranging from Los Angeles' 0.8% to Nashville's 8.7%

Averaging the numbers gives a slight decrease of -0.8%, but the reality is that in nine of the 16 cities, premiums are going up, not down. In order to get that -0.8% average, they are comparing the average of the "before tax credit" rate for this year (the numbers above). Then they compare the "after tax credit" rate between 2014 and 2015, which works out to a 0.1% increase.

Much clearer picture in the KFF report.
http://files.kff.org/attachment/analysis-of-2015-premium-changes-in-the-affordable-care-acts-health-insurance-marketplaces-issue-brief