California health exchange to announce 2016 premium rates

Those making less would be directed to the state’s Medicaid program for the poor.

In part, Levitt credited the cost-containment to Covered California’s “substantial enrollment so far”.

The health exchange also added two new insurers to the mix of companies consumers can choose from, bring the total to 12. Lee said an online rate comparison tool will be updated on the exchange’s website – coveredca.com – by the end of the month.

Kern County’s options will be an Anthem PPO and a Blue Shield of California PPO available countywide, as well as a Health Net HMO and a Kaiser Permanente HMO available in select areas.

But Lee says consumers throughout the state can save money or limit their rate increases by switching to lower cost plans.

The price hikes in the third year of coverage under federal health reform will average 4 percent in California, but the costs obviously will impact household budgets more heavily in certain areas such as Stanislaus, San Joaquin and Merced counties. “On Monday, we hope to continue to see the benefits of Covered California using its purchasing power to bargain for the best value”, said Beth Capell, a spokeswoman with Health Access California, a statewide health care advocacy group.

Overall, 44% of Covered California customers said they find it hard to pay their monthly premiums now.

But groups representing hospitals and doctors around the state refuted that notion, calling it misleading.

“We have Chicken Littles who keep saying the sky is falling tomorrow and rates will skyrocket through the roof”, Lee said in an interview. Covered California signed up more than 1.3 million people during the second enrollment season.

Peter Lee, executive director of Covered California and a former Obama administration official, said he relished the opportunity to prove that the healthcare law is working well. “This shows what a stable, competitive individual insurance market can look like”, he said, via email.

For 2016, an individual making between $16,242 and $47,080 may qualify for subsidies, while a family of four making between $33,465 and $97,000 may also qualify. He noted a huge variation in premium changes across state, ranging from a 10 percent drop to a 23 percent increase.

Jones backed the Affordable Care Act, and while he admitted that “the news today is good”, he suspects the insurers were politically motivated to keep increases low this year, and that might not last.

“Covered California does not think more plans are always better”, he said.

He says the exchange used its pool of enrollees to help negotiate for lower increases. Meanwhile, a Northern California consumer can minimize their increase to 1 percent by doing the same.

In other states, some insurers are proposing rate increases of 20 percent to 40 percent or higher for Obamacare policies.

Under the UnitedHealthcare plan, people who live near the Oregon and Nevada borders will also be able to cross state lines to see a doctor, a practice that was often prohibited in other plans.