GAO report points to Obamacare ‘rate shock’

Published July 24, 2013 4:00am ET



A new report from the Government Accountability Office detailing insurance premiums paid throughout the United States in 2013 provides another piece of evidence that young and healthy Americans will see their premiums soar once President Obama’s health care law kicks in next year.

In response to a request from Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, the GAO cataloged premiums in all 50 states plus the District of Columbia as of January 2013. The report provides the minimum price, median price and maximum price for individual insurance policies for a sample of demographics. There are a number of caveats. The rates presented could vary based on a person’s specific health status, for instance, and not every plan was offered in every part of each state. But taken together, the report provides analysts with a good basic sense of where premiums are in the pre-Obamacare marketplace.

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