California consumers of individual and family health insurance policies are likely to see only modest price increases next year, which marks a departure from the trend of double-digit premium increases that were happening before passage of the federal health law.
Officials with the state-run insurance marketplace, Covered California, put the average statewide premium increase for these plans at 4.2 percent, but the actual price any one person will pay for their policy will vary.
Southern California Public Radio Health Care Correspondent Stephanie O'Neill explains what consumers of these policies can expect in 2015:
Who is most affected by this news and who isn't?
These rates apply only to those people who buy individual and family insurance policies on their own. So these are the folks who don't have employer-based insurance, Medicare or Medi-Cal. And we know statewide there are 1.2 million Californians who this year signed up for these these policies through the state-run insurance marketplace called, "Covered California." We also know that most of them are getting subsidies to offset the cost of their monthly premiums. But then there are others who didn't buy through the marketplace because they earn too much to get subsidies, and they pay full retail for their premiums. So news of only modest increases in next year's premiums is going to be most welcomed by them.
And the news this week is notable because it's reversed a trend of often huge premium price hikes in this market, right?
Right. Before passage of the Affordable Care Act, rates in the individual market were extremely volatile. It wasn't uncommon for companies to raise rates by 30 percent from one year to the next. In fact, Anthem Blue Cross had announced a 39 percent rate hike just as Congress was debating the federal health bill, and many health policy experts believe that played a key role in Congress voting to pass the Affordable Care Act.
So statewide, Californians can expect to see an average increase of 4.2 percent, but what does that mean for any particular person?
Not a whole lot. Essentially, if you buy one of these policies, the premium you'll pay will vary based on number of factors. They include your age, which one of the state's 19 pricing regions you live in, the amount and type of coverage you buy, and which insurance company you buy it from. So, for instance, in parts of L.A. County that show an overall 4.3 percent increase in plans, you'll see Anthem Blue Cross charging as much 16 percent more for one of its plans, while in that same region, Kaiser will charging 14 percent less for one of its plans.
But the great news, even if you're in a plan that will have a big hike in monthly premiums, is that you now have time to shop, compare and switch out of the plan or change insurance companies when the next open enrollment period rolls around.
And when is open enrollment?
It starts on November 15th of this year and ends next February 15th.