According to a new Wall Street Journal analysis, healthy Americans may see their health insurance rates double or triple upon Obamacare’s January 2014 grand opening.
Insurance premiums for sicker Americans will become less expensive as healthier Americans are forced to buy coverage or additional coverage to what they currently have or face government fines and penalties.
The Journal examined figures from eight states to demonstrate the cost increases for healthier Americans.
Virginia is one of the eight states examined by the Journal and offers a fairly typical picture.
In Richmond, a 40-year-old male nonsmoker logging on to the eHealthInsurance comparison-shopping website today would see a plan that costs $63 a month from Anthem, a unit of WellPoint Inc. That plan has a $5,000 deductible and covers half of medical costs.
By comparison, the least-expensive plan on the exchange for a 40-year-old nonsmoker in Richmond, also from Anthem, will likely cost $193 a month, according to filings submitted by carriers.
Conversely, premiums will be next to zero for a 40-year-old Virginian whose income was near the poverty level ($11,490 for a single person) due to a $234 a month government subsidy.