Double-digit rate hikes in health care premiums next year could be a consequence of President Obama’s attempt to allow Americans to keep their health care plans, Politico Pro reports.
The rate hikes will average 7.5 percent across the country, but in some states, rate hikes could be as high as 18 percent.
Major carriers there in part blame such increases on the administration’s response to the furor that erupted when millions of Americans received notice last fall that their health policies would be canceled because they fell short of Obamacare requirements.
Facing a barrage of criticism from Republicans and some Democrats, who accused him of breaking his promise that people could keep plans they liked, President Barack Obama relented. He told insurers they could continue offering those plans if states agreed. About two-thirds of the states took him up on the offer.
But the president’s decision is now having an impact on upcoming rates, insurers say. Many younger, healthier Americans — the category companies had counted on enrolling when they set their initial prices — stuck with their existing coverage. In states with the biggest numbers of these "transitional" policyholders, their absence from the Obamacare market is pushing premiums higher.
