Pirate's Cove

A good chunk of this is directly related to the “Affordable” Care Act

(Forbes) Health insurance premiums are showing the sharpest increases perhaps ever according to a survey of brokers who sell coverage in the individual and small group market. Morgan Stanley’s healthcare analysts conducted the proprietary survey of 148 brokers. The April survey shows the largest acceleration in small and individual group rates in any of the 12 prior quarterly periods when it has been conducted.

The average increases are in excess of 11% in the small group market and 12% in the individual market. Some state show increases 10 to 50 times that amount. The analysts conclude that the “increases are largely due to changes under the ACA.” (snip)

For the individual insurance market (plans sold directly to consumers); among the ten states seeing some of the sharpest average increases are: Delaware at 100%, New Hampshire 90%, Indiana 54%, California 53%, Connecticut 45%, Michigan 36%, Florida 37%, Georgia 29%, Kentucky 29%, and Pennsylvania 28%.

For the small group market, among the ten states seeing the biggest increases are: Washington 588%, Pennsylvania 66%, California 37%, Indiana 34%, Kentucky 30%, Colorado 29%, Michigan 27%, Maryland 25%, Missouri 25%, and Nevada 23%.

Congratulations, Democrat states, you are the proud recipients of the majority of the pain. Ironic, wouldn’t you say?

(Daily Caller) Individual policies saw a much starker jump after the Obamacare exchanges launched, in anticipation of the health care law going live in 2014. Morgan Stanley’s September 2013 survey, like the previous three quarters, found a fairly constant growth rate around 2 percent — but in December, the rate had shot up to above 9 percent.

Morgan Stanley’s results echo what consumers are already seeing: the Affordable Care Act’s intensive regulation of the insurance market is driving health care premiums up strikingly.

Well, fortunately, those who enroll in Obamacare can get Someone Else to pay a good portion, if not all, of their premiums. Funny thing is, Obamacare, and the rules from Team Obama and HHS, focused on controlling costs, rather than expanding service. What they got are higher costs for premiums and deductibles and reduced provider networks, all while achieving a net increase in those with health insurance of only about a million consumers. Wasn’t a main point of this whole exercise to provide the 30-45 million Americans without health insurance that health insurance?