Under Obamacare, Montana Residents Will Get Better Benefits For Less Money Than They’re Paying Now

[ProSense]

Under Obamacare, Montana Residents Will Get Better Benefits For Less Money Than They’re Paying Now

By Sy Mukherjee

Individual and small group health plans sold on Montana’s Obamacare marketplace in 2014 will be cheaper than what current plans would have cost without the health law — even though the new marketplace plans will offer significantly better benefits than the status quo, according to a new Montana actuary report....insurance officials predicted the average premium in 2014 to rise by 10 percent to $290, explained Lucas Hamilton, communications director for Montana Insurance Commissioner Monica Lindeen, in a phone interview with ThinkProgress. Instead, the average cost for an individual plan will be $273 — about five percent lower than it would have been without the health law’s marketplace.

That’s despite the fact that insurance sold on the marketplaces will have to cover a range of ten “essential health benefits,” including prescription drug and mental health services, that skimpy individual plans almost never cover. The numbers sharply contradict conservative claims that Obamacare will raise premiums by requiring plans to offer more robust coverage.

To the contrary, a 25-year-old can purchase a bare-bones “Bronze” level individual plan for $141 per month on Montana’s marketplace, and a more generous “Gold” plan for about $300 per month. Older Americans can buy plans for a slightly higher premium, between $313 and $664.

And those numbers don’t even take the health law’s federal insurance subsidies into account, meaning that poorer Montanans will be able to buy coverage at cheaper — and for many low-income Americans, much cheaper — prices. Between 229,000 and 278,000 Montanans are expected to buy coverage through the marketplace, with over 180,000 of them receiving federal subsidies.

- more -

http://thinkprogress.org/health/2013/06/26/2219991/montana-obamacare-better-cheaper-plans/

[NYC_SKP]

1. I can't wait until full implementation puts truth to the lies being spread about the costs.

The RW is desperate to derail Obamacare before the truth comes out.

I pay $1375 now for COBRA for just myself! This will be cut in half under the 2014 plan for my state.

[ProSense]

3. Yup, and

think about all the people who are unemployed who will qualify for Medicaid.

[Thinkingabout]

2. Thanks for your post, there are some group plan pricing for customers of Paychex already in effect

At a lower price than buying individually. For some who thinks it is too high should know Medicare cost seniors $104 a month and the average Social Security is $1200 and for many this is their only income. I think the numbers within the next year will prove Obamacare is making more affordable insurance premiums.

[NYC_SKP]

4. Kicking for the great news that some people wish would go away....

Too busy kvetching about drones and shit.