Obamacare insurance could cost as little as $100 a month

By Scott Powers

　

Roughly half of uninsured Floridians should be able to buy health insurance coverage for about $100 a month when they start signing up for Obamacare next month, a new federal report says.

There are an estimated 3.5 million uninsured Floridians, and most of them will be required to buy coverage through the federal health-insurance marketplace created by the Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare. About 3.2 million of them are eligible for income-based federal subsidies to help them buy policies.

Failure to purchase insurance will result in a first-year tax of $95, which will go up in later years. The marketplace opens Oct. 1, and people must enroll in a health insurance plan by Dec. 15 to be eligible for coverage by the Jan. 1 deadline.

Just two weeks before the marketplace opens, there still are no firm numbers for Florida on what the various health care plans might cost or how much the federal tax subsidies might cover.

But a new report by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services indicates that 53 percent of the 3.2 million uninsured individuals and families who are eligible for subsidies should qualify for enough help to keep their premiums at or below $100 a month.

That's based on a national projection from 26 states where the federal government is running the insurance marketplace.

The report did not estimate how much the remaining 47 percent would pay, though no one will have to pay premiums totaling more than 9.5 percent of income.

Individuals earning up to $46,000 a year, and families with incomes up to $94,000, qualify for subsidies.

"The health care law is making health insurance more affordable," HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius stated in a news release accompanying the report. "With more than half of all uninsured Americans able to get coverage at $100 or less, the health care law is delivering the quality, affordable coverage people are looking for."

HHS and advocacy groups have disputed claims by Florida's Republican political leaders, including Gov. Rick Scott, that Obamacare will raise the price of insurance beyond its already high levels. In July, the state Office of Insurance Regulation released estimates warning of rate increases averaging 35 percent above current premiums paid by those already insured.

OIR said its estimates were based on bids submitted by insurance companies such as Florida Blue and Cigna, comparing those applications to current approved rates for those companies.

However, the OIR report did not include the effect of subsidies on premiums. OIR acknowledged that, but said its calculations were an indicator of what rates could be for the majority of Floridians who are insured today.

"Although the form and rate review process is ongoing, we have released this information to help the public and our state policymakers understand the full extent of federal health care reform and its imminent impact on our state," Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty said in releasing the estimates.

OIR spokeswoman Amy Bogner said Tuesday the office does not have enough information to comment on the new federal report, or how subsidized premiums would compare to current rates.

The premium estimate by HHS was for either the lowest coverage or the second-lowest coverage of four Obamacare health insurance plans. The plans will be offered at four levels of coverage ranging from Platinum — the most expensive — to Gold, Silver and Bronze.

The HHS report projects that in the 26 states (including Florida) that do not plan to expand their Medicaid programs, approximately 35 percent of the currently uninsured residents should be able to buy a Silver plan for $100 or less a month, and another 18 percent would be able to get a Bronze plan for that amount.

Source: Orlando Sentinel