Obamacare Co-Op’s Premiums to Increase As Much as 40 Percent

One of the co-ops created through the Affordable Care Act will see premiums rise as much as 40 percent, Kaiser Health Newsreported.
Martin Hickey, the CEO of New Mexico Health Connections, said that premiums for their plans may rise as little as 7 percent or soar as much as 40 percent.
Hickey said that there has been massive confusion regarding what will happen to the Affordable Care Act with the new administration and Congress. “The more uncertainty they create, the higher the rates” will be for 2018, he said.
“Insurers have a hard enough time making the normal predictions of who will get sick and how much it will cost,” the article states. “Now the usual fog of rate setting is compounded by the possibility that basic rules of coverage could get overhauled or even disappear before anything takes place. Consumers and patients could ultimately pay the price.”


One of the co-ops created through the Affordable Care Act will see premiums rise as much as 40 percent, Kaiser Health News reported.
Martin Hickey, the CEO of New Mexico Health Connections, said that premiums for their plans may rise as little as 7 percent or soar as much as 40 percent.
Hickey said that there has been massive confusion regarding what will happen to the Affordable Care Act with the new administration and Congress. "The more uncertainty they create, the higher the rates" will be for 2018, he said.
"Insurers have a hard enough time making the normal predictions of who will get sick and how much it will cost," the article states. "Now the usual fog of rate setting is compounded by the possibility that basic rules of coverage could get overhauled or even disappear before anything takes place. Consumers and patients could ultimately pay the price."
New Mexico Health Connections is one of the five co-ops still offering plans on the exchanges this year. There were 23 co-ops created under Obamacare and in December of last year, the 18th co-op announced they were no longer offering plans.
Many of the co-ops, which were started with millions in taxpayer-financed loans, failed due to financial losses. For example, New Mexico Health Connections was awarded a total of $77.3 million in loans.