Health insurance rates for 2016 are on the rise in Massachusetts, according to The Boston Globe.
Four of the state's main insurers are seeing notable increases. Premiums at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts will go up an average of 5 percent, while rates at Tufts Health Plan will rise between 3 and 7 percent. At Pilgrim Health Care, premium rates will increase 6 to 12 percent, and at Fallon Health, rates will rise 9.5 percent.
The primary reasons behind the increases are rising drug prices and the cost of expanding Affordable Care Act coverage, according to the report.
The issue has many consumers in the state worried. "People cannot sustain the amount of money they're paying for healthcare," said Joshua Archambault, a senior fellow at Boston-based Pioneer Institute.
Therefore, the Massachusetts Division of Insurance will have a public hearing, during which insurers and members of the public can discuss and comment on the increases.