Health insurance in some parts of California may be on the rise

Bay Area residents may experience hikes in their premiums for their coverage next year.

Consumers living in the Bay Area could potentially experience increases to their health insurance premiums, say some industry experts, if new proposals are all to pass by lawmakers in the state.

The federal healthcare law is currently being interpreted by lawmakers and could lead to some added cost.

Though some have predicted that there could be health insurance rate increases by as much as 20 percent, others don’t believe that the increases will be anywhere near that amount. This is all under debate by the lawmakers as it is examined by the Insurance Department in California.

Health insurance premiums are being watched very carefully as they will impact everyone as of next year.

As the federal law requires almost all Americans to purchase health insurance coverage by January 1, 2014, it will mean that if there are rate hikes in California, many people within the state will find that the expense is much greater when they shop for plans on the insurance exchanges online.

The reason for the possible increased cost is a part of the central element of the healthcare law that states that health insurance companies will no longer be permitted to reject customers based on pre existing medical conditions. Because of this, insurers expect that they will need to pay out a great deal more, in order to cover the medical expenses associated with those individuals. For this reason, they may be required to increase their rates to compensate for the cost of the claims.

That said, those insurers may still be able to use geography as a factor in calculating their premiums. In Sacramento, the California Legislature is holding the first of its hearings as an element of special sessions related to the healthcare regulations bills which will create the foundation of the changes that will be made in the state.

It won’t be for a number of weeks that the lawmakers are expected to have their decisions regarding health insurance. The Senate and Assembly committees will be mulling over a number of different proposals that will decide the framework of how the system will be run. At the moment, insurers decide their own rate setting boundaries, but it is yet unknown as to whether or not this will change.