As an example, the average increase for a popular silver plan in those states rose just 2 percent over 2014.
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And more than three-quarters of New Jersey’s newly insured are getting help to pay for their coverage, regardless of where they live, the data shows.
Lost in the cheering over the Supreme Court’s decision is the fact that only about 40 percent of Americans eligible for policies in the exchanges signed up in the first and second enrollment periods.
On average, insurers requested a rate increase of 14.4 percent in the small group market. “Since the passage of the Affordable Care Act five years ago, we’ve seen the largest reduction in the uninsured rate in four decades”, Sommers said.
Some insurers were granted the increases they requested. MVP Services’ small group rate will jump 15.9 percent, compared with its 16.71 percent rate request.
Overall, DFS cut insurers’ requested 2016 rates by more than 30 percent in the individual and small group markets, which will save policyholders more than $430 million. And United, which sought a 22-percent increase, was granted an increase of just 1.65 percent from previous year. In Cape May, for instance, 39 percent of 3,104 people got health insurance through the ACA for the first time, while in Hudson County, 54 percent of 19,222 people were new enrollees. Eight others requested double-digit increases.
For individual customers, insurers had requested on average a 10.4 percent rate hike. Justices addressed a challenge that the subsidies were legal only in the 17 states that ran their own shopping exchanges and not in the rest that chose to use the marketplaces operated by the federal government.
Albanese said the state’s health exchange through the Affordable Care Act, called New York State of Health, will continue to have rates that are almost 50 percent lower than before the exchange started two years ago.
“Because subsidies are based on the benchmark premium, consumers may have to change insurers to keep their out-of-pocket costs affordable when competitors are angling to be the low-cost plan”, said Larry Levitt, a senior vice president at the Kaiser Family Foundation.
About 60 percent of enrollees were under age 35, with 32 percent of those purchasing private plans falling into that age group.
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The survey found that some 79% of those who shopped for insurance coverage simply could not afford it. Of these, 58% noted that they had $100 or less left after paying their bills, which means that they cannot justify the high cost of health insurance coverage. Additionally, a new Essential Plan, available only through the NY State of Health, will lower premiums to $20 or less and provide better benefits for hundreds of thousands of lower income New Yorkers.
