Many Pennsylvanians to See Insurance Premiums Skyrocket

Obamacare’s health insurance exchanges are off to a rough start this week. Millions were welcomed with error screens as they attempted to figure out if their health care costs would rise. Fox News has running tally of the “glitches” shoppers experienced and Kaiser Health News live-blogged the day’s events. Of the 16 states running their own exchange, only 9 launched on Monday—many with limited capability.

Three days into the live exchanges many still do not know if their rates will increase. For many Pennsylvanians, the answer is most assuredly yes. Yesterday, the federal government released a sample of rates on the exchange for each county in the nation.

We did a quick analysis of current insurance premiums on ehealthinsurance.com in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh for:

  • a single 27-year old,
  • a single 50-year old,
  • a family of four with two parents aged 30,
  • a family of three with a single mom aged 30.

We compared the lowest premiums to the minimum rates that will be available on the exchange. Not surprisingly, young adults will face the largest premium hikes. Here are the results:

  • Premiums will increase 121 percent for 27-year old males and 62 percent for 27-year old females in Pittsburgh.
  • In Philadelphia, premiums will increase by 242 percent for 27-year old males and 167 percent for 27-year old females.
  • Families with single moms will see a rate hike of around 50 percent in Pittsburgh and 150 percent in Philly. Families of four in Pittsburgh will get hit with a 92 percent increase and a in Philadelphia they will face a whopping 216 percent hike.

 

 

Note: We compare the least-expensive plan available on ehealthinsurance.com to the least-expensive plan available on the exchange referred to as the “catastrophic plan.” We assumed individuals do not smoke and do not have pre-existing conditions. The comparison does not take into account the tax credits available to individuals and families making between 100% and 400% of the federal povery level. This comparison does not take into account out-of-pocket costs, including co-pays and deductibles.