Premiums in the individual marketplace will jump 11 percent in 2019, Covered California predicts.
The increase comes as enrollment in the state Affordable Care Act marketplace is expected to fall as much as 12 percent.
The projected premiums are in line with the “significant” increases of up to 35 percent that Covered California warned were coming over the next three-year period. This past year, Covered California premiums were up just over 12 percent.
Health-care premium increases in out-of-state markets could be as high as 32 percent in 2019, Covered California had said in a report.
As in past years, final premium increases won’t be unveiled until Covered California completes negotiations with insurance carriers, usually in late summer.
The expiration of the so-called “individual mandate” — which requires almost all U.S. citizens to have health care or pay a tax fine — will contribute significantly to a rise in the uninsured rate. And cost Covered California business from the desired healthy younger population.
“Under any of the forecast scenarios, based on Covered California’s projections, the removal of the mandate penalty will have a significant impact on overall individual market enrollment,” the Obamacare operation said. The 2019 losses from removal of the mandate were put at 5 percent.
The California projections were released as part of the Covered California budget proposal for fiscal year 2018-19.
Speak Your Mind