ObamaCare To Result In Increased Costs For Small Groups Next Year (And For Large Groups In 2015)

For newbies, there are three parts to ObamaCare:

• the employer mandate: delayed for one year
• the individual mandate: (sort of) delayed for one year
• taxes on medical devices (and a whole bunch of other things, including oil royalties)

The one-year delay in the employer mandate allowed insurers to see how much this was going to cost them (previously reported on the blog; it's now being reported -- see linked story below). [That's why it will individual premiums will actually be increased if customers/insurers agree to "re-issue" canceled polices per President Obama's announcement last week.

For North Dakotans: group plans will increase by as much as 30% next year.

Increasing demand for health care services and new provisions under the Affordable Care Act will combine to drive up insurance costs for many individuals and small groups next year.

Beginning Jan. 1, Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Dakota has approval to increase premium rates for group plans.

Generally, group plans that were in place when the health reform law was passed in 2010 and meet the law’s provisions will see increases ranging from 10 to 20 percent, according to the insurer, which covers about 400,000 North Dakotans.

For small groups, those that cover fewer than 50 employees, the increases are sharper and range from 20 to 30 percent.

The "increasing demand for health care services" is a direct result of ObamaCare. 

What's not being reported yet is that group plans will eventually subsidize individual health care plans.

The article does not report on cost shifting by employers.

The article goes on:

The increases will depend largely on individuals’ previous coverage. Those who had coverage with comprehensive benefits will not see dramatic changes, while those with leaner-benefit, high-deductible plans will see sharp rises, Keefer said.

For small groups, those with 50 or fewer employees, the average increase will be about 30 percent, Keefer said.

The increases are largely due to the Affordable Care Act, said Jim McManus, a Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota spokesman.

“This is all being driven by changes the law is bringing to the market,” McManus said. “Price is an indicator of those changes.”

Thousands of individual insurance customers have received notices informing them that their coverage is being discontinued because it does not meet coverage and affordability standards under the Affordable Care Act, the reform law also known as Obamacare.