Kaiser Family Foundation study good news for ‘ObamaCare’

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

The good news about the insurance exchange rates continues in advance of the marketplace insurance exchanges coming online on October 1. The rates have consistently been below the rates initially projected, and are even a better deal when the tax subsidy is factored in.  

Think Progress reports, Major New Study On Obamacare Premiums Should End The ‘Rate Shock’ Hysteria Once And For All:

The most comprehensive study
on Obamacare to date finds that Americans’ insurance premiums under the
health law will be “lower than expected.” Many Americans will pay even
less than the top-line rates after factoring in government subsidies for
their health coverage, with some paying nothing at all for crucial
medical coverage.

The Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) looked at individual policy prices
in the 17 states, plus the District of Columbia, that have released
comprehensive numbers for their Obamacare insurance marketplaces. Since
premiums under the law will vary based on factors such as age and
geographic location, KFF chose to examine how much the second-least
expensive “Silver” mid-level plan and the least-expensive bare-bones
“Bronze” level plan would cost for 25-year-old, 40-year-old, and
60-year-old Americans in those 17 states’ largest cities. The report
includes both the top-line prices for those demographics, as well as
what their costs would be after factoring in government subsidies based
on varying income levels.

According to KFF’s findings, a single 40-year-old in Los Angeles
could buy the second-cheapest mid-level plan for $255 per month — but if
that person makes just under $30,000 per year, he or she will only have
to pay $193 per month after receiving a government subsidy.

Strikingly, in every city analyzed, a family of four with two
40-year-old adults and a household income of $60,000 per year would pay
$409 per month for the second-cheapest Silver plan after receiving
subsidies. That’s more or less in line with the average $4,565 per year that workers currently contribute towards their employer-sponsored health insurance plans.

The report
also finds good news for younger and older Americans. In Seattle, a
25-year-old making $28,725 per year will pay $193 per month for a Silver
plan after subsidies and $138 per month for the cheapest Bronze plan
after subsidies. For a single 60-year-old with the same income, those
number would be $193 per month and $44 per month, respectively, after
factoring in subsidies. And in Burlington, Vermont, both a single
25-year-old making $25,000 per year and a 60-year-old couple making a
combined $30,000 per year would pay nothing at all for the cheapest,
bare-bones Bronze plan.

While the KFF researchers emphasized that there will be significant
variation in Obamacare premiums depending on geographic location, they
concluded that premiums would be lower than what the government
expected, writing,
“the latest projections from the Congressional Budget Office imply that
the premium for a 40-year-old in the second lowest cost silver plan
would average $320 per month nationally. Fifteen of the eighteen rating
areas we examined have premiums below this level, suggesting that the
cost of coverage for consumers and the federal budgetary cost for tax
credits will be lower than anticipated.”

Plans purchased through the Obamacare marketplaces will be
significantly more robust than current individual policies, which often
skimp on essential coverage to bring down their prices and have been
dismissed by consumer advocates as “junk insurance.” Obamacare
marketplace plans must cover 10 broad categories of “essential health
benefits,” including for prescription drug coverage, mental health
services, and maternity care.

Sarah Kliff has this useful post at Ezra Klein's Wonkblog, Confused about shopping for Obamacare? This site helps explain:

Nevada has put together what seems to be one of the clearest Web sites
to explore the price of health insurance coverage under Obamacare. Even
if you’re not a resident, I’ve found it to be a helpful resource to
understand what exactly will happen when people start shopping for
coverage.

Sarah Kliff walks you through Nevada's website step by step. (The Arizona marketplace insurance exchange will probably have a different look). Sarak Kliff points out:

The Nevada site is not asking for income data, meaning it only shows the
unsubsidized price for health insurance coverage. On the marketplace,
shoppers will see the base price and the amount they’re expected to
contribute, based on their income. Still, the Nevada site is great to
play around with to get a sense of what consumers on the marketplaces
across the country will face come Oct. 1.

It is the tax subsidized amount that you will pay.