Insurance premiums have become a new battleground in the fight against the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, with opponents pointing to surging premiums as a signal the Obama administration's signature healthcare reform is failing, and supporters defending that the premium increases will only have modest impacts overall.
Opponents and supporters of the PPACA came head to head over premiums last month when insurers were required to publicize estimated 2016 rate increases of 10 percent or more for those insured under the PPACA, according to the Washington Examiner.
Premium increases vary by insurer and state. In Florida, for example, some insurers have actually predicted reduced health plan premiums, but 13 plans are seeking rate increases of more than 10 percent, including Time Insurance's 63 percent increase, according to the report.
Republicans are calling these high rate hikes symptoms of the PPACA's failure.
"The whole point of Obamacare was to make healthcare more affordable. But premiums aren't going down; they're going up — way up," said Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, in a recent hearing, according to the report.
Supporters of the law have countered that any increases are merely predictions at this point and will have only a modest affect overall. According to research firm Avalere, the average premiums for silver plans, a popular choice and the second-cheapest option for PPACA enrollees, will increase by nearly 6 percent. Avalere's research is based off of the proposed rate filings in seven states and Washington, D.C.
Avalere also found that the premium increases for low-cost silver plan options are likely to be lower than other silver health plan options. According to the report, premiums for the lowest- and second-lowest silver plans in the seven states and Washington, D.C., will rise an average of 4.5 percent and 1 percent, respectively.
Under the PPACA, states are required to report on any premium increase trends and recommend whether certain health plans should be removed from the exchanges. However, to opponents of the law, the estimated increases support criticism about its ability to lower and stabilize healthcare costs, according to the report.