Mass: What PA has to Look Forward to on Health Insurance

Massachusetts – with an individual mandate, an insurance exchange, taxpayer subsidies for insurance, and a regulatory board overseeing all health insurance – was seen as the model for health care reform.

However, rather than reduce the cost for insurance, as supporters of ObamaCare claim will happen, Massachusetts has seen insurance premiums skyrocket. Here is the latest battle between insurers and regulators (emphasis added):

Insurers wanted to raise base rates an average of 8 percent to 32 percent; tacked on to that are often additional costs calculated according to factors such as the size and age of the workforce. …

Health insurance leaders are also contending the health premium rate rejections are a distraction from what they see as the real problem: steadily rising medical costs, particularly from health care providers and hospital groups that use their market clout to negotiate long-term contracts on favorable terms with the insurance carriers.

Note that this increase is on top of premiums that are already the highest in the nation.