The Cost of Obamacare’s Most Popular Insurance Plan Is Set to Rise 13 Percent

Premiums for some of the most popular insurance plans in the exchanges set up by President Obama’s so-called Affordable Care Act will have double-digit rate hikes for 2016.

Politico reports:

Rates released by the Obama administration Friday and analyzed by consulting firm Avalere Health found that the lowest cost “silver” plan – the most popular option in the law’s insurance marketplaces – will rise 13 percent, about four times the increase for plans this past year.

More than 80 percent of exchange customers qualify for subsidies, so they don’t bear the full cost of the premium increases. Still, surveys have found that some people don’t know about the subsidies – a gap that HHS plans to address in its next wave of enrollment outreach – and some families find health insurance unaffordable even with the federal financial assistance. …

The administration and insurance experts are pushing the 9 million-plus Obamacare customers to shop around for a better deal […]

“Most consumers will need to return to the exchange to shop and may need to select a new plan to avoid higher premiums,” said Caroline Pearson, senior vice president at Avalere.

Read more here.

— Posted by Alexander Reed Kelly.