Average Cost Of Health Insurance

Lowering the average cost of health insurance is a noble effort intended to solve the high rates of the uninsured.  With the health insurance costs rising every day, consumers choose to take risks and forego any healthcare coverage.  Communities then have to pick up the expense of their health care, leading to busy, overcrowded emergency rooms filled with people whose medical conditions should have been solved through prevention, instead of expensive emergency room services.

Making health insurance affordable has lead to health insurance policies that have high deductibles. While these plans save people a lot of money on their monthly premiums, it places incredible burdens on them IF they seek and receive health care.  High deductible plans are optimal for younger, healthy people who rarely need medical attention. These high-deductible plans save money for the healthy; at the risk of higher payments for health care services.

 The Affordable Care Act (ACA ) provides reasonable health insurance at a balanced cost, so that every individual can receive healthcare without undue financial burden.

Before the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA, or ObamaCare) became Federal law in 2010, insurers could refuse to cover you if you had various health conditions.  Before the ACA, even employer-based health plans often denied coverage for people with pre-existing conditions.

The rise in the price of health insurance has somehow become the deciding factor while planning for any kind of health policy.  For a middle-income household earning about $64,000 a year, employer plan premiums and deductibles amounted to 11.5 percent of income in 2018. (Commonwealth Fund, 11/2019) In 42 states, premiums and deductibles were 10 percent or more of the median income, compared to only seven states in 2008. 

Premiums paid for health insurance plans

All the information about average health insurance cost is out during the spring season. The State and Federal legal bodies review the proposals in fall. You can never rely on the values quoted by a single insurer, as that alone cannot predict the actual health insurance costs quoted by marketplaces.

Rates for individual coverage for medical insurance plans (2014)

Average Cost Of Health Insurance (2016)

Over the last ten years or so, the premium amounts for health insurance have really shot up. Earlier, the insurance companies would decide the price of the health plans based on different factors. However, the ACA has brought down the number of those impacting factors to a great extent. According to the collected data, the 30 years old will pay 1.135 times more, 40 years old 1.3 times more, 50 years old 1.786 times higher, and 64 years old will pay 3 times more than the present costs.

BLOG: Making Sense: An Affordable Care Act Refresher & Quick Guide

Average Health Premiums (Metal Tier)

Insurance plans are divided into different metal categories. Based on these plan categories, the health care costs are divided proportionately between the insurance company and the enrollee. Bronze plan has maximum deductibles, coinsurance, and copays. The value goes decreasing as the value of metal goes high. Catastrophic plans are the cheapest while bronze being the costliest.