Obamacare News Blog

NY ObamaCare Premiums: Cheaper?

New York released its ObamaCare monthly premiums. For most of the nation it was sticker shock, but for New Yorkers they seem to be getting a better deal with the new Bronze Plan, Silver Plan, Gold Plan, and Platinum Plan.

You may be asking how can there be a huge savings when the average monthly premium for a Platinum plan is $600 (and go up to $965)? Well, first off, we need to explain the previous premiums in New York. New York passed a law in 1992 (according to Forbes) that disallowed an insurance company from charging more or less based on age, gender, smoking, health history, as well as preexisting conditions no longer applied. So, rates were outrageous, because the young and healthy just didn’t purchase insurance. This created what is called in the insurance world as a “death spiral.” This means that only older residents and the sick were purchasing insurance, in turn skyrocketing premium costs.

Now, since there is an individual mandate, the youth will have to pay in or pay an ObamaCare tax, lowering premiums with the new plan. ObamaCare could also level out premiums even more in years to come. It is unclear if the NY state law will still hold stating that age is not a factor. If it does, young and old will stay pay the same rate for insurance, only provider, plan, and region will play a role in the price diversity. We will update this article when this information becomes clearer.

We’ll have to wait and see what happens with ObamaCare and New York to see how the premiums are handled in years to come. But as of now, monthly premiums are less for most New Yorkers. And this does not include the federal premium subsidies that will bring down monthly costs for individuals making less than $45,960 per year.

To learn if you qualify for a subsidy or to learn about health care plans available in your area call 800-930-7956 or contact Medicoverage.com.