Obamacare Exchange Brings High Healthcare Costs to Ohio

By Mary McCleary

If you plan to purchase health insurance through the Obamacare exchange, expect to pay a lot – that is if you can successfully sign up.  Even a month after the launch of HealthCare.gov, the website is still plagued with bugs much to the embarrassment of President Barack Obama and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius.

As part of the Obamacare roll out, the federal government recently released a list of healthcare plans available to enrollees by state.  The average yearly cost per plan in Ohio is in Table 1 below.  Although catastrophic plans are included in the chart for all age groups, it should be noted that only people under 30 and “some people with limited incomes” are permitted to purchase these low cost options.[1]  Plan types are broken down by categories, which reflect the share of healthcare costs policyholders will pay.[2]  Catastrophic, Bronze, Silver, and Gold policyholders will pay more than 40 percent, 40 percent, 30 percent, and 20 percent, respectively, of the share of their medical expenses.

Table 1:  Average Yearly Insurance Cost by Age Group and Plan Type in Ohio[3]

Plan Type*	Child	Age 27	Age 50	Family	Single Parent Family	Couple
Catastrophic	$1,117	$1,843	$3,141	$6,226	$4,230	$4,495
Bronze	$1,568	$2,588	$4,410	$8,741	$5,938	$6,311
Silver	$1,884	$3,109	$5,299	$10,503	$7,136	$7,584
Gold	$2,232	$3,684	$6,279	$12,446	$8,455	$8,986

* Platinum not included to due to its limited availability (only one plan in four counties).

The average Ohio family purchasing a gold plan will pay $12,446 for health insurance premiums through the federal exchange.  The most expensive gold family plan available to Ohioans costs just over $18,000 per year.

The most expensive catastrophic family plans (which families may or may not be allowed to purchase) are available in 11 of the state’s poorest counties in southeastern Ohio.  These plans could cost over $8,000 dollars per year.  Looking at the average prices per family by county, Hocking, Ross, and Pike County residents have the highest premiums in all categories.  (See Table 3 below.)

In spite of the higher prices in poor areas of the state, those with “low” incomes will receive subsidies to help defer the cost of their premiums.  An individual earning up to $45,960 will be eligible for a subsidy as will a family of four whose household income is less than $94,200.[4]  Considering that Ohio’s median household income in 2012 was $44,375, most Ohioans should receive subsidies for the healthcare they purchase through the exchange.[5]

Young adults are expected to experience the biggest increase in premiums.  According to research performed by Jason Hart of Media Trackers, monthly premiums for non-smoking 21-year-old females will increase 168 percent.  Similarly, insurance rates for non-smoking 21-year-old males will increase 203 percent through the Obamacare exchange.[6]

While the increase in costs is bad news for Ohioans, residents of other states will be paying much more for their health insurance.  As the MacIver Institute discovered while performing a similar analysis for Wisconsin, families in the state could pay about $22,000 per year for insurance. [7]  If the information reported on Data.Healthcare.Gov is correct for the state of Virginia, families could pay as much as $6,495 per month or roughly $78,000 per year for health insurance if they choose the most expensive plan.[8]

Compared to other states, the cost of Ohio’s healthcare plans rank near the middle across all categories and age groups.  No matter what age or family demographic one chooses, Ohio’s average cost rankings are the same within the plan type categories.  For example, whether you are 27, 50, a single parent, or a family, Ohio’s average gold option is 16th most expensive out of the 34 states participating in the federal exchange.  (See Table 2 below.)

Despite the information now available regarding Obamacare and the federal exchange, there are still many unknowns.  The rollout of the new healthcare program has been a disaster for the Obama administration.  Between website crashes and other technical glitches that have prevented Americans from signing up, one can only wonder what the next chapter of the Obamacare saga will be.

Table 2:  Average Family Monthly Premiums by State and Category

	Catastrophic		Bronze		Silver		Gold
State	Dollars	Rank	Dollars	Rank	Dollars	Rank	Dollars	Rank
AK	$798	3	$1,002	3	$1,210	2	$1,398	2
AL	$463	33	$538	33	$683	33	$859	32
AR	$516	27	$720	16	$910	12	$1,053	13
AZ	$575	13	$750	12	$904	13	$1,039	15
DE	$523	23	$713	17	$846	21	$1,006	20
FL	$593	11	$750	11	$881	16	$976	22
GA	$566	16	$782	8	$935	9	$1,127	10
IA	$522	24	$649	25	$807	23	$913	26
IL	$526	22	$660	24	$877	17	$1,009	18
IN	$604	10	$759	10	$939	8	$1,212	8
KS	$418	34	$575	31	$697	32	$828	33
LA	$518	26	$699	20	$913	11	$1,027	17
ME	$664	6	$828	7	$989	7	$1,270	4
MI	$556	17	$701	19	$894	14	$1,048	14
MO	$489	32	$706	18	$875	19	$1,112	11
MS	$670	5	$856	6	$1,031	5	$1,221	7
MT	$555	18	$619	28	$741	28	$865	30
NC	$511	28	$723	15	$885	15	$1,056	12
ND	$541	19	$674	22	$827	22	$927	24
NE	$491	30	$677	21	$791	26	$895	27
NH	$531	21	$664	23	$802	24	$990	21
NJ	$691	4	$942	4	$1,053	4	$1,241	5
OH	$519	25	$728	14	$875	18	$1,037	16
OK	$490	31	$559	32	$712	31	$885	28
PA	$502	29	$644	26	$740	29	$873	29
SC	$646	8	$732	13	$867	20	$1,009	19
SD	$664	7	$903	5	$1,011	6	$1,238	6
TN	$571	14	$512	34	$666	34	$860	31
TX	$575	12	$603	29	$797	25	$954	23
UT	$538	20	$592	30	$718	30	$812	34
VA	$2,085	1	$2,086	1	$1,685	1	$2,026	1
WI	$621	9	$775	9	$925	10	$1,167	9
WV	$570	15	$634	27	$757	27	$916	25
WY	$986	2	$1,082	2	$1,210	3	$1,374	3