Most Americans can expect to pay significantly more each month for health insurance next year, whether they get it through work, Obamacare or Medicare.In some cases, the premium increases may be the largest in decades and are driven by numerous economic pressures.
But they won’t look the same for everyone.Some will pay more in the form of higher copays or deductibles.“Healthcare costs are going up faster than they have in years, and open enrollment is when the healthcare affordability crisis is really going to hit home for people,” said Larry Levitt, executive vice president for health policy at KFF, a nonpartisan research group.
“That’s true for whatever kind of insurance you have.”Prices have shifted upward in every corner of daily life.The rising healthcare costs stem in part from higher prices for hospital and other medical care, as well as the increased use of expensive prescription drugs — including GLP-1 weight loss medications — that are driving up spending for insurers and employers.The pressures are unique to each type of coverage.People who buy insurance through the Affordable Care Act marketplace, about 19 million adults, are set to face another year of steep premium increases after the enhanced federal subsidies expired last year.On Thursday, the White House promised $500 rebate checks to an estimated 1 million ACA enrollees, alleging they were wrongly overcharged.It’s unclear where the money for the rebates would come from or whether the distribution would require approval from Congress, but experts say it’s unlikely to provide significant relief.The $500 check “pales in comparison to the increased premiums that marketplace enrollees are facing due to the expiration of the enhanced subsidies,” said Miranda Yaver, an assistant professor of health policy and management at the University of Pittsburgh.Workers with job-based insurance may be asked to shoulder more of their employers’ rising health costs.
And some Medicare benef...