Analysis Finds No Nationwide Increase in Health Insurance Marketplace Premiums
A new analysis of costs for health plans offered through the Affordable Care Act’s insurance marketplaces has good news for many people signing up in the second enrollment period: Nationwide, marketplace premiums for 2015 did not increase at all from 2014, though average premiums grew substantially in some states and fell in others. <br /><br />
The weighted analysis, conducted by researchers at NORC at the University of Chicago, is the most comprehensive to date. It examines:
<ul>
<li>premiums as well as deductibles in nearly all states and the District of Columbia, and across all tiers of coverage </li>
<li>differences in premiums between urban, suburban, and rural areas within states</li>
<li>participation by insurers. </li>
</ul>
The researchers also found that average premiums for the second-lowest-cost silver plan—the benchmark for calculating the federal subsidy in a given state—were unchanged. Meanwhile, the average deductible for a marketplace plan increased 1 percent year to year. Visit our <a href="/~/media/ed32926506f348f18f7df87656280f18.ashx">interactive map</a> for state-by-state premiums and percentage changes.