Across the nation, health insurance premiums are on the rise.
According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, premium increases for federally subsidized health insurance will be bigger in 2016 than they were the previous year.
“The cost of a benchmark silver plan in these (11 major U.S.) cities is on average 4.4 percent higher in 2016 than in 2015,” the Foundation wrote in a recent premium change and insurer participation analysis. “… We also find that the number of insurers participating has stayed the same or increased in nine states, while insurer participation decreased in Michigan and the District of Columbia.”
The analysis noted that that 4.4 percent average increase is still subject to change, and may be raised or lowered in some states that have not released final numbers yet.
The highest increase will be in Portland, Oregon, where the second-lowest priced silver plan premium will increase by 16.2 percent, according to the analysis. Alternatively, in nearby Seattle, Washington, the same premiums are expected to decrease by 10.1 percent.
President Obama has been urging states to cut big rate increases requested by health insurance companies. Federal officials also say medical inflation won’t be as severe as many insurers predicted when calculating 2016 premiums.
