Coverage purchased through the state health insurance marketplace will rise by an average of 6 percent.
The Covered California rates have been announced for next year, and the cost of coverage will be increasing by an average of 6 percent for 2023.
Officials cautioned that coverage could be far more expensive for some if federal aid isn’t renewed by Congress.
They cautioned that some consumers could see their premiums as much as doubling if Congress chooses not to renew federal aid. The rate hike announcement represents the largest increase Covered California has seen since 2019. The last three years since then have seen average increases under 2 percent.
The specific increases consumers will experience across the state will depend on the region. For instance, Imperial Inyo and Mono counties are expected to experience an increase in their health insurance premiums by about 11.7 percent. On the other hand, Fresno, Kings, and Madera counties aren’t expected to experience any change at all in their average rates.
When Covered California health insurance rates rise, financial aid will typically increase too.
The financial aid available is based on household income, so the subsidies available to many residents of the state may help to offset some of the health insurance rate increases. That said, for individuals and families who don’t qualify for a subsidy, they will face the full increase in their premiums.
“Premiums are a capturing of what health care costs are, how they vary across geographies and communities, how health care costs are growing over time, which we know in this country are already too high and rising,” said Covered California executive director Jessica Altman.
Altman also pointed out that the rate hike in the state is still lower than the average increases seen in other state health insurance marketplaces. A recent analysis conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation showed that in 13 other states, the average premium increase proposed by 72 insurers was 10 percent.
The reason for the rate increase, according to Altman, is greatly because of the fact that people are starting to resume their regular doctor checkups, tests and procedures that had been postponed during the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic, combined with the impact of general inflation.