Insurance rates on Affordable Care Act exchange for Illinois stabilizing
"In fact, many consumers may see a decrease in rates,"
Consumers will see average 4 percent increases in monthly premiums for "silver" plans and 6 percent increases for "bronze" and "gold" plans on HealthCare.gov, Hammer said.
Those increases are based on rates submitted to the state by insurance companies that plan to participate in
The rate changes don't reflect federal subsidies for monthly premiums that are provided through the Affordable Care Act for people with incomes up to 400 percent of the federal poverty level, Hammer said.
More information will be released by the state this week on rates for health plans that consumers can choose during this year's open-enrollment period for the
The more-modest increases indicate that
"When insuring the subsidized population, they're starting to understand how sick those people are," she said. "We're excited that consumers will finally have some relief after facing years of average double-digit rate increases."
More choice for consumers will come with the addition of a fifth insurance company that will sell health plans on the exchange, Hammer said.
The
The rate situation will offer a welcome respite for consumers, but it's unclear how much of a difference the new rates will make overall, Hammer said.
That's because many people who don't qualify for subsidies still find plans on the exchange unaffordable, a result of "structural flaws" in the Affordable Care Act, she said.
Republican Gov.
But the governor said the ACA has shown "dramatic weaknesses and flaws."
In the 2017 open-enrollment period for plans that began in
The average unsubsidized premium for Illinoisans on the exchange was
For enrollees benefiting from that assistance, their average premium was
Hammer said she doesn't know whether rates proposed for 2019 would be even more favorable for consumers if President
The Republican president used his executive authority last year to stop federal payments to insurance companies. Those payments, set in motion by the 2010 health-care law passed while Democrat
Federal subsidies continue to flow to insurance companies for premium assistance.
And the
The changes, along with constant Republican threats to repeal the ACA, were part of actions to "sabotage" the law by politicians who then said the law was flawed and imploding, according to
Altman said she was happy to hear about premium rates stabilizing on the
The stabilization could have happened two years earlier if not for the efforts of Trump and
The actions in
Hammer said the
Those options, she said, include what are known as "short-term limited duration" health plans, the terms of which have been expanded by Trump.
ACA supporters have criticized the president for expanding the potential time period those plans can cover because the plans are allowed to exclude certain health conditions from coverage. A bill in the
Hammer said insurance department officials will conduct a statewide tour in village halls and public libraries to educate consumers during the open-enrollment period.
"We know that purchasing health insurance is extremely confusing, and we are there to help," she said.
Hammer said she will encourage consumers to "shop around and utilize the tools available to them to be educated about the product that they're purchasing."
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Counties; Number of enrollees; Enrollees with income-based subsidies; Average monthly premium; Avg. premium paid by enrollees qualifying for subsidies
Christian; 721; 650;
Logan; 757; 647;
Morgan; 852; 763;
Source:
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