Health Insurance Premiums are Expected to Rise Due to Various Reasons

Recent studies show that the the cost of healthcare will show a rising trend as according to The Affordable Care Act, insurers will now provide cover for pre-existing ailments and preventive care like mammograms etc: which lead to higher prices. A recent analysis found that firms which offer employer based insurance cover have increased deductibles and other cost sharing provisions which will cause employee’s out of pocket expenses to rise. The costof providing employer based benefits is expected to rise 4.4% this year, according to a survey by a professional services – Towers Watson - there is a slight rise in the costs at the moment which may increase.Employees may have to pay 37% of the company premiums this year as compared to the 34% of 2011.

The Affordable Care Act has plans to control the health care costs, to do this - accountable care organizations, and insurers will be subjected to rigorous reviews when higher premiums are proposed. Many of them can avail tax credits to help with co-payments. "Employers have been facing increasing premiums for employees for many years, long preceding the health-care law," said the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services in a statement. It noted premiums since the ACA's passage have grown at "the slowest rates on record."

For folks who cannot afford higher co-pays there are a few strategies which will help – they can talk to the human resources department. According to the deputy director, Cheryl Fish-Parcham, for health policy at Families USA, a not-for-profit focused on health- care consumers "they need to know when it's not working for an employee," she says.

When the health care plan costs the employee more than 10% of his income they may go ahead and find a better option on The Affordable Care Act’s health exchange or marketplaces. The consumer now has a choice of plans to choose from and evaluate the total costs – not only of the premiums, taking into account the savings on tax subsidies.

References:

Hannah Punitha (IRDA Licence Number: 2710062)

Avery Johnson, March 2014

Source-Medindia