The average premium for family health plans sold through eHealthInsurance.com was $412 a month in 2012, down slightly from 2011, amid "a relative flattening of the cost curve," eHealth Inc. CEO Gary Lauer said.
Family premiums dropped for the first time in seven years, by half a percent, while premiums for individual plans increased 3.8 percent, to $190 per month, according to eHealth's analysis of 395,000 medical policies that went into effect in February.
The average monthly premium for individual plans sold across the country ranged from $123 in North Dakota to $385 in Massachusetts; for family plan premiums it ranged from $269 in Iowa to $965 in Massachusetts.
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Kentucky, Montana and Nebraska saw double digit increases for individual premiums between 2011 and 2012, while seven states saw premiums decrease. For family plans, only Nebraska saw a double-digit percentage increase in average monthly premiums, while 20 states saw a decrease. Lauer said that overall it amounts to a slight slowing trend for cost growth, and noted that it comes as federal health reform takes effect incrementally.
About 180 insurers sell health plans through the eHealthInsurance exchange, and about 80 percent of the policies sold are preferred provider plans, while about 18 percent of all the plans sold were eligible for Health Savings Accounts (HSAs). HSA-eligible plan premiums rose for both individuals and families over the past year.
The average annual deductible in 2012 was $3,079 for individuals and $4,079 for families, both increasing about 5 percent since 2011.