Whatever you are paying for health insurance from government exchanges this year, it will likely be higher next year. Prepare your budget for several out-of-pocket increases for 2016.
The health insurance rates on exchanges are set by the government. The rates for 2016 are being analyzed now and major insurers are requesting premium increases from 8% to 52% across the country. Insurers are experiencing actual costs far higher than expected and want these increases to begin to close their financial gap over the next few years.
(Unfortunately for taxpayers, any losses by the health insurance companies on exchanges is funded by taxpayers. For example, the largest insurer in Oregon experienced costs that were 61.5% higher than premiums that they charged, so federal or state taxpayers will be funding that loss).
There are a few other regulation price increases for 2016:
- The maximum deductible amount for an individual increases from $6,600 to $6,850
- The tax penalty for employers who do not offer health insurance increases to $2,160 per employee.
- The tax penalty for families who do not have health insurance increases to $2,085.
- A second tax penalty for employers: those that do offer health insurance that the government deems as unaffordable will increases to $3,240 per employee.
Obamacare subsidies are also being disputed in courts so there is not a definite financial number for residents of every state that expects to receive a subsidy for health care premiums.
The sooner you start budgeting for future expenses, the more stable your financial situation will become. Under the Affordable Care Act, mapping out your health costs and insurance is becoming a larger and more complex part of everyone’s expenses.