(File photo: WRN)
Wisconsin residents who buy health insurance through the federal exchange could see premiums climb by an average of 36 percent next year.
The state Office of the Commissioner of Insurance says the increases are the result of decreased competition after three providers left the exchange, along with concerns about the future of federal subsidies.
The rate changes will effect only the individual market, and not the group market where most Wisconsinites get their coverage. About 75,000 Wisconsin consumers are set to lose their current coverage, and will have to search for a new plan when open enrollment begins next month.
Governor Scott Walker called the increases evidence that Obamacare is collapsing. “These huge premium increases show the law failed on its promise to deliver affordable healthcare. A 21-year-old living in Brown County will be faced with increases as high as 105 percent under one Obamacare plan, and a 55-year-old single woman living in Milwaukee County, making little more than $30,000 a year, faces monthly premiums of $990 next year under one plan. These increases are unsustainable and unacceptable.”
Subsidies will help some consumers off-set the cost of plans under the federal exchange.
U.S. Representative Mark Pocan (D-WI) accused President Trump of sabotaging the ACA, which he argued is now having a very real impact on thousands of Wisconsinites. “With premiums jumping 36 percent, President Trump’s threats to discontinue cost-sharing reduction payments are sending the insurance markets into chaos and costing Wisconsin families hundreds of dollars every month. President Trump has never cared about working men and women, and with these rate increases, it is clearer than ever that he is actively working to hurt them.”
The open enrollment period begins on November 1 and runs through December 15.