Obamacare prices are soaring, but for most people who get their coverage through their workplaces, premiums are growing slower than before the Affordable Care Act was passed.
Premiums for employer-sponsored coverage rose an average of 3.8 percent annually in the five years after President Obama’s 2010 healthcare law was passed, compared to a 4.7 percent annual increase in the five years prior to the law, according to an analysis released Wednesday by the Commonwealth Fund.
Growth in deductibles, the amount consumers must pay before their benefits kick in, also eased after the law was passed. The average deductible in an employer-sponsored plan grew 9.5 percent from 2006 to 2010 but 8.5 percent from 2011 to 2015, the study found.
People buying their coverage on their own are facing steep price increases for next year, confirmed by figures released Monday by the Obama administration. The monthly cost for marketplace plans in most states will be 22 percent higher, and consumers are facing additional problems of narrowing networks and fewer plan options as insurers drop out of the marketplaces.
Yet a relatively small number of people rely on the Obamacare marketplaces for health insurance: about 11 million. Most Americans get coverage through Medicare, if they’re at least 65, or through their employers.
The number of people with employer-sponsored coverage hasn’t changed much since the healthcare law was passed, despite ominous predictions from Republicans that the law would lead many employers to drop coverage altogether. Large employers, which are required by the law to provide insurance, have been able to comply with its new requirements without much difficulty, the study authors wrote.
“These findings also support the conclusion that the law’s employer requirements have been absorbed relatively easily by U.S. companies, including the coverage mandate for large companies, the provision that allows young adults to stay on parents’ policies, and the requirement that plans cover preventive care without cost-sharing,” they wrote.
Yet not all is bright for those with employer-sponsored plans. The Commonwealth study found that workers are putting an increasingly larger percentage of their income toward health coverage. In 2006, workers spent a median of 6.5 percent of income on their premiums and deductibles; in 2015, they spent 10.1 percent of their income.
And while premiums and deductibles are growing more slowly in many states, that’s not the case everywhere. Eight states including Alaska, Hawaii, Idaho, Kentucky, Maryland, New Hampshire, New York and Utah experienced average growth rates of at least 5 percent between 2010 and 2015.
