By Christopher Levesque
In January we begin the 4th year of the ACA, or Obama Care. The Act allows anyone to qualify for health insurance by removing the pre-existing clause and the projection was that with more people in the pool, the cost per person would come down.
Unfortunately, the cost has gone up. Why? There are many reasons, but the major factor is the cost of claims is much greater than the projected. Also the Federal Government is not meeting their contractual portion of these claims. Moda Health has filed a $200,000,000 suit against the Federal Government for damages.
With the closing of the Oregon Health CO-OP this July, with LifeWise and Trillium leaving the Oregon marketplace at the end of December and Health Republic leaving last December. The Oregon health insurance marketplace is in a state of flux.
As open enrollment begins November 1st, 2016 for coverage effective on January 1st, 2017, you may be wondering what will my health plan look like and what will be the cost?
The State has announced that Regence BC, Bridge Span, Providence Health Plan, Moda, Kaiser Permanente, Pacific Source and Zoom Care are financially sound and will be offering plans in 2017.
The average rate increase on the individual market will range from 9.8 percent to 32 percent in the Portland Metro. Regence will increase by 17.9 percent. Providence will increase 24.1 percent, Moda will increase 29.3 percent.
The good news is regardless of who wins the White House this year, the ACA will still be in place providing subsidy for those that qualify. The bad news is we will all pay more.
For questions about health care in Oregon, contact Christopher Levesque at 503-372-5621
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