No Hope, No Change: Obamacare Dramatically Increases Premiums for Young Americans
Those tech-savvy college students smart enough to sign up via the glitchy Obamacare exchange websites are in for serious sticker shock.
Health insurance premiums for young people will rise in all 50 states under Obamacare, with an average increase of 260 percent, according to a study released Thursday.
The young and healthy segment of the uninsured is considered crucial for the Affordable Care Act to succeed. Former President Bill Clinton suggested last week that Obamacare only works “if young people show up.”
However, an analysis of premiums both before and after the implementation of Obamacare shows that 18- to 35-year-olds are likely to opt out of high rates in the exchanges in favor of cheaper penalties for not having insurance.
According to a study released by the American Action Forum, post-Obamacare premiums will average $187.08 per month, up from $62 per month in 2013, a 202 percent increase. Overall, states averaged an increase of 260 percent.
Forty-four out of 50 states saw a three-digit percent increase, and in Vermont the cheapest available premium for a 30 year-old male nonsmoker will increase by $332.69, or 600 percent.
The American Action Forum, a center-right policy institute led by Douglas Holtz-Eakin, the former director of the Congressional Budget Office, compared premiums across the nation in 2013 to rates under the federally and state run exchanges in the heath insurance marketplace, which launched on Tuesday.
The group analyzed plans for a 30 year-old male non-smoker as the model for the so-called “young invincible.” They presumed that if a healthy young person purchases health insurance, he would most likely choose the “bronze plan,” the least expensive plan offered in the marketplace.
After analyzing each bronze-tier plan for a 30-year-old single male, every state saw an increase. Most saw an increase between 200 and 300 percent, with the top five occurring in Vermont, Georgia, Nebraska, Arkansas, and Wisconsin.
Study: Premiums for Young People to Rise in all 50 States (Washington Free Beacon)