Health Care Costs A Mixed Bag
From the Carbondale Southern Illinoisan
Are requirements of the nation’s new health care law driving up out-of-pocket costs for people buying their own insurance?
In some cases, yes. But the law also eliminated some of the largest deductibles, or the amount a consumer pays for actual medical care before an insurance company begins paying.
The Affordable Care Act’s cap on out-of-pocket costs — $6,350 for an individual and $12,700 for a family — did away with some whopping deductibles in plans previously offered to people without employer-provided coverage. Deductibles as high as $10,000 for an individual and $30,000 for a family were features of policies sold on the individual market in Illinois 11 months ago, according to a report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office.
The GAO report makes it possible to compare specific scenarios before and after the health law’s protections and requirements go into full effect. It shows that similar priced plans may now have larger deductibles.
Read more in our daily News Update...
From the Carbondale Southern Illinoisan
Are requirements of the nation’s new health care law driving up out-of-pocket costs for people buying their own insurance?
In some cases, yes. But the law also eliminated some of the largest deductibles, or the amount a consumer pays for actual medical care before an insurance company begins paying.
The Affordable Care Act’s cap on out-of-pocket costs — $6,350 for an individual and $12,700 for a family — did away with some whopping deductibles in plans previously offered to people without employer-provided coverage. Deductibles as high as $10,000 for an individual and $30,000 for a family were features of policies sold on the individual market in Illinois 11 months ago, according to a report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office.
The GAO report makes it possible to compare specific scenarios before and after the health law’s protections and requirements go into full effect. It shows that similar priced plans may now have larger deductibles.
Read more in our daily News Update...