The cost of plans on the Affordable Care Act health insurance marketplaces in 14 major cities will increase by an average of 10 percent in 2017, according to a report from the Kaiser Family Foundation.
The report evaluated the costs of plans in cities in Colorado, Connecticut, Indiana, Maine, Maryland, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, and the District of Columbia because these areas had complete data on rates that were publicly available for all insurers. The group evaluated data on silver plans since these are the basis for federal premium subsidies and are the plans that most enrollees choose.
"Based on insurer rate requests, the cost of the second-lowest silver plan in these cities will increase by a weighted average of 10% in 2017," the report states. "Last year, premiums for the second-lowest silver plans in these areas increased 5% following review by state insurance departments."
The report also anticipates that fewer insurers will participate next year.
"We also find that some states will have fewer insurers participating in 2017 than participated in 2016," the group states. "On average across these 14 marketplaces, participation is down slightly from 2016 but similar to that of 2014."
The report finds that the marketplaces in Colorado, Connecticut, Indiana, Maryland, Oregon, Rhode Island, and Washington will see a drop in the number of insurers, likely due to the withdrawal of UnitedHealth, the nation’s largest health insurer. Three states including Maine, New Mexico, and Virginia, will see an increase in insurer participation while the remaining three cities in Nevada, New York, Vermont and the District of Columbia will keep the same number of insurers.
"In addition to switching plans, enrollees may also have to switch insurance companies in order to avoid a significant premium increase, which could involve changing doctors as well," the group states. "In 6 out of 14 cities we examined, an insurer offering the lowest-cost silver plan in 2016 is no longer offering one of the two longest-cost silver plans in 2017."
The Department of Health and Human Services did not respond to requests for comment by press time.