Health Premiums On The Rise In Wyoming For 2017
Oct. 27--CHEYENNE -- Health insurance premiums for Wyoming residents covered through the Affordable Care Act will increase an average of 7 to 8 percent next year, an official with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Wyoming said Wednesday.
Increases in Wyoming health-care premiums are significantly lower than the national average, however.
Premiums for mid-level health plans across the country will increase an average of 25 percent next year, according to an article published Wednesday in the New York Times.
States will see various levels of increases.
A 40-year-old nonsmoker in Arizona who makes $40,000 a year, for example, will pay 145 percent more next year for a popular policy, a report from the Kaiser Family Foundation said.
If this person's income is eligible for tax credits, the federal subsidy would pay for all of the increase.
In Alabama, this same plan's premium will increase 71 percent from last year. It will go up 67 percent in Oklahoma.
Inflation and other factors have caused the premium increases in Wyoming, according to Wendy Curran, spokeswoman for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Wyoming.
Blue Cross is the only insurance company on the state's federal insurance marketplace, where consumers can buy insurance through Obamacare.
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Wyoming has tried to set premiums that are appropriate to the insurance market ever since the Affordable Care Act began, Curran said.
Starting Tuesday, consumers in Wyoming and across the country can buy insurance on federal exchanges for coverage for 2017.
Those who don't buy insurance next year could be fined nearly $700 in income tax penalties.
The high premium increases happening elsewhere are not a reality in Wyoming, Tracy Brosius said Wednesday. She is in charge of Enroll Wyoming, a group overseen by the Wyoming Institute of Population Health at Cheyenne Regional Medical Center whose goal is to sign people up for the insurance.
Federal tax credits bring premium prices down for consumers, she said. But about 10 percent of those buying insurance in Wyoming would not qualify for these subsidies.
"I think we have health insurance plans that provide great coverage for our consumers, and they understand the population they're serving," Brosius said of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Wyoming.
Brosius said it's too early to tell if the premium increases in some other states will make people in Wyoming less likely to sign up.
About 24,000 people in the state have health insurance through the federal insurance marketplace. Brosius estimates that another 20,000 to 23,000 Wyoming residents could be signed up, and she wants to reach them.
"We are here to help," she said.
___
(c)2016 Wyoming Tribune-Eagle (Cheyenne, Wyo.)
Visit Wyoming Tribune-Eagle (Cheyenne, Wyo.) at www.wyomingnews.com
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Vibra Health Plan launches midstate Medicare plans
Advisor News
Annuity News
Health/Employee Benefits News
Life Insurance News