Premiums on the rise for Illinoisans under ObamaCare

President Obama came into office promising to reduce health-care costs. Instead of delivering on that promise – to reduce health insurance premiums by $2,500 per year for the average family – premiums have actually increased an average of 30 percent over the last year alone. That’s on top of the broken promises that you could...

President Obama came into office promising to reduce health-care costs. Instead of delivering on that promise – to reduce health insurance premiums by $2,500 per year for the average family – premiums have actually increased an average of 30 percent over the last year alone. That’s on top of the broken promises that you could keep your health insurance and your doctor.

The reality is that Americans should not expect their premiums to fall. The system is primed to further drive up costs in coming years

New data published by the University of Minnesota predicts that, come 2017, premiums will dramatically increase across the board. And if that isn’t bad enough, the number of uninsured Americans is projected to increase by almost 500,000 over the next decade.

Premium costs are hitting Illinoisans particularly hard. A recent Manhattan Institute study reports that people in 101 out of the state’s 102 counties are facing, on average, higher premium costs. In some cases, those premiums are nearly 120 percent higher than what they were before ObamaCare.

Currently, premium costs are artificially low because federal subsidies are masking the true cost. These subsidies are designed to minimalize the risks of participating in ObamaCare health insurance exchanges. But once those subsidies run out in 2016, cost increases will be passed on to consumers in the form of higher premiums.

Simply, most people will be required to pay more. The University of Minnesota study reports that, in 5 years, families who signed up on the exchange for bronze-level coverage will have to pay  $5,000 more than they are paying today under ObamaCare. In just 10 years, families will have to pay close to $8,000 more than their original premium cost them.

A recent report published by the Department of Health and Human Services, or HHS, claims to show that the vast majority of individuals obtaining health insurance through the federal exchange are paying less than $100 per month when accounting for their subsidies. The report fails to reveal what these individuals were paying before ObamaCare or who has actually paid for coverage.

A look beyond the headline reveals that the study is purely hypothetical. It merely posits what a person might pay with government subsidies, but does not show what anyone is actually paying.

Polls are consistently showing that the public is unhappy with ObamaCare, with the majority of the public now opposing the health insurance overhaul. 

If the most recent predictions are accurate, citizens’ frustration and premium costs will continue to rise.