Arkansas Releases Premium Rates for Health Insurance Exchange

Arkansas Insurance Commissioner Jay Bradford has approved insurance premium rates for the state's individual health insurance exchange as much as 25 percent lower than what health insurers initially requested.

Insurers will offer 71 qualified health plans through the individual exchange under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. For a 30-year-old Arkansas resident, the average base premium for individual coverage will be $284.74 per month, according to a news release. In 2010, the average per person monthly premium on the individual market was $163 in Arkansas, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.

Recent research has shown health insurance premium rates for the exchanges are generally lower than expected. A Kaiser Family Foundation report that examined data from the District of Columbia and 17 states that have publicly released premium rates for their exchanges. Kaiser found premiums are generally lower than the latest Congressional Budget Office projections, which suggest a $320 per month premium for a 40-year-old in the second-lowest-cost silver plan.

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