Health insurance prices don’t typically drop.
It’s an axiom almost up there with death and taxes. BlueChoice Health Plan in South Carolina has announced that they will be raising premiums for individual health insurance policies beginning March 1. Here’s what you need to know:
How much? The rate increase will be 9.9%. That’s not good, but we’ve seen worse.
Who is affected? The increase will apply to policies with effective dates prior to January 1, 2014. In other words, the “Obamacare” plans are not impacted.
Why are rates going up? The short answer is that the cost of health insurance is tied to the price of healthcare. That should be obvious, but sometimes we lose sight of that. Additionally, whatever you think about it politically, the health reform law contributes to the rising prices of health insurance. (I promise that’s not a political declaration, just the reality we’re dealing with). In fairness to BlueChoice, this is their first non-age-related price increase in a couple years.
What can you do about it? Well, as frustrating as these things can be, you might just decide to grin and bear it – to pay the higher premium on your policy. If you want to change policies you’ll have to switch into something that is Obamacare-compliant. That will likely be even more expensive unless you qualify for income-based premium subsidies. If you want to check that out, we can certainly help.
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