Obamacare...The Good..Bad and the Ugly

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Covered California announced increased rates of 12.5 percent for its 2018 health insurance plans

Anthem Blue Cross will stop selling individual Covered California health plans in the Southern California market but will still sell in parts of Northern and Central California.

Covered California on Tuesday announced that insurance rates will jump an average of 12.5 percent for next year, amid uncertainty about the future of Obamacare.

“Californians are paying about 3 percent more than they would have if not for the uncertainty,” said Peter Lee, executive director of the state’s exchange.

Additionally, Anthem Blue Cross will stop selling individual health plans in the Southern California market but will still sell in parts of Northern and Central California.

“The uncertainty is also having an impact on plan participation,” Lee said. “It’s significant. About 153,000 of their consumers will need to shop and change into 2018.”

Last year, rates increased an average of 13 percent statewide, which was much higher than in the two years before. But this time, insurance companies were left unsure if lawmakers will still move to dismantle the law, and if the Trump administration will continue making monthly payments that allow them to reduce co-pays and deductibles for low-income consumers as required by the Affordable Care Act. Later this month, Covered California will decide whether to attach an average 12.4 percent surcharge to the silver-tier plans that offer the reduced out-of-pocket costs for about 650,000 Californians.

Roughly 551,510 people in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties purchase subsidized plans through Covered California.

Covered California announced average rate increases of 4 percent in 2015 and 4.2 percent in 2014.

http://www.dailynews.com/government-and-politics/20170801/covered-california-announced-increased-rates-of-125-percent-for-its-2018-health-insurance-plans?source=email