Health insurance premiums for individual plans offered through the Maryland Health Connection will be among the lowest of 12 states that have proposed or approved rates.
That includes New York and California, according to an analysis released Friday by the Maryland Health Benefit Exchange, which operates the state-based health insurance marketplace.
Premiums will be as much as 33 percent lower than what the approved insurance companies had previously proposed, said Maryland Insurance Commissioner Therese Goldsmith in a statement, adding that "consumers will find a wide variety of plans available through the Maryland Health Connection." For example, options for a 21-year old non-smoker start as low as $93 a month.
According to the exchange analysis, Goldsmith cut the proposed premium rates by every insurance carrier in the individual market in Maryland, including rolling back proposed increases for a majority of carriers by more than 50 percent.
In addition, three out of four individuals and families expected to enroll for coverage through the exchange will qualify for tax credits to lower their effective rates, the analysis noted.
Besides the lower premium rates and tax credit availability, Dr. Joshua Sharfstein, secretary of the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, reminded that "nobody can be denied coverage on the basis of health status."
Individuals who enroll through Maryland Health Connection before Dec. 18 will have coverage beginning Jan. 1, 2014.
The Affordable Care Act requires all qualified health plans offered in the individual market, both inside and outside of the exchanges, to cover a comprehensive package of essential health benefits within at least 10 categories, including physician ofice and hospital services; emergency services; maternity and newborn care; mental health and substance use disorder services; prescription drugs; and preventive and wellness services and chronic disease management.
An estimated 740,000, or 14 percent, of Maryland's population is uninsured. The exchange will provide access to financial assistance to individuals and families to reduce the cost of monthly insurance premiums and out-of-pocket costs such as copays and deductibles through advance premium tax credits and cost sharing reductions.
"Beginning in October, consumers will find a wide variety of choices in health coverage, which they can review while making apples-to-apples comparisons of premiums, out-of-pocket costs, physician networks and coverage options," said Rebecca Pearce, executive director of the Maryland Health Benefit Exchange, in a news release. Small businesses will be able to do the same on the exchange beginning Jan. 1.
The Maryland Health Benefit Exchange now starts the certification process to approve the estimated 300 qualified health plans offered by carriers that have expressed their intent to sell plans through Maryland Health Connection. The insurers are: Aetna, CareFirst, Coventry, Evergreen Health Cooperative Inc., Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of the Mid-Atlantic, UnitedHealthcare, All Savers, and Group Hospitalization and Medical Services.
Exchange plans are categorized as bronze, silver, gold or platinum based on how costs are shared. For example, bronze plans are likely to have lower premiums but higher out-of-pocket costs such as deductibles, co-pays and coinsurance. High deductible "catastrophic plans" are available for young adults under age 30 and certain other qualifying individuals, Insurance Commissioner Goldsmith said.