This year, premiums for health plans offered through the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act's health insurance exchanges are comparable to, and in some cases lower than, premiums for employer-sponsored policies offering similar coverage, according to a report from global consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers.
The report compares published health insurance exchange premiums with the average premium for a single worker with employer-sponsored coverage (based on 2013 data from the Kaiser Family Foundation). Single-worker premiums increased by 4 percent to account for growth in 2014. Median annual premiums for silver ($4,742), gold ($5,631) and platinum ($6,058) exchange plans are all less than the average employer premium ($6,119), according to the report.
Nevertheless, the report notes people who previously purchased coverage through the individual market — which has generally offered plans with a lower level of coverage than employer-based policies — may experience "sticker shock" on the exchanges. Their premiums might be higher because of the more comprehensive level of coverage offered by the new health plans.
The higher premiums may be counteracted by premium subsidies — distributed in the form of federal tax credits — available for people purchasing their own coverage through the exchanges who have incomes from 100 percent to 400 percent of the poverty level.
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