About 77% of them got a premium increase, said the Menlo Park, Calif.-based nonprofit, which surveyed 1,038 buyers of their own individual and family health insurance between March 19 and April 2.
What's driving up costs and how much is a fair rate increase are issues of debate among regulators and insurers, said Drew Altman, Kaiser's CEO and president. “If you're being hit with a 20% increase and inflation is negligible and your wages aren't going up, that on its face is an unreasonable increase,” Mr. Altman said. “You will never convince a consumer that's a reasonable increase when wages and inflation are flat.”
About 60% of policyholders paid the higher bills, while 16% switched to a less expensive plan, according to Kaiser. Of those who changed coverage, nearly half said their new policy offered fewer benefits.
A spokesperson from AHIP explained that healthier people are dropping coverage leaving more and more sick people "in the pool" which results in higher claims costs and hence the high premium increases. This is why a mandate to purchase coverage (beginning in 2014) is needed to reduce the overall costs of premiums. As I have said before though the penalties for not obtaining coverage are so minimal many healthy people may not obtain insurance.
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