Yet Another Report Documents Obamacare’s Failure to Control Premiums
Earlier today the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality released a breakdown of premiums in employer-sponsored insurance in the ten largest states, based on Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) data from 2010. When compared to prior-year MEPS data from 2009, the two reports illustrate the continued increase in premiums for employer-sponsored coverage.
In 2010, premiums for family coverage nationwide increased by $844, or more than $70 a month – a 6.5% increase. And premiums for single coverage increased by an average of $271 per year, or more than $20 per month.
On a state-by-state level, eight out of nine states included in both years’ surveys saw premium increases. (New Jersey dropped out of the ten most populous states following the 2010 census, and thus was not included in both years’ reports.) The lone exception was Michigan, which faced flat to slightly declining premiums for employer coverage – a fact that one can reasonably attribute to the auto industry restructuring of 2009-2010 (i.e., significant reductions in employer-provided insurance benefits) rather than any slowdown in cost growth. Four states saw family premiums skyrocket by more than $1,000 per year – and at $995 and $973, respectively, Illinois and New York weren’t far behind.
Remember that candidate Obama promised to cut premiums by $2,500 for the average American family – and his advisers told the New York Times that “We think we could get to $2,500 in savings by the end of the first term, or be very close to it.” More than halfway into his term, the facts not only prove that Obamacare hasn’t brought premiums down – premiums continue to rise, and will only go higher as Obamacare is implemented.
| Average Single Premium, 2009 | Average Single Premium, 2010 | Increase | Average Family Premium, 2009 | Average Family Premium, 2010 | Increase | |
| California | $4,631 | $4,811 | $180 | $12,631 | $13,819 | $1,188 |
| Texas | $4,499 | $4,951 | $452 | $13,221 | $14,526 | $1,305 |
| New York | $5,121 | $5,220 | $99 | $13,757 | $14,730 | $973 |
| Florida | $4,488 | $5,120 | $632 | $12,912 | $15,032 | $2,120 |
| Illinois | $4,725 | $5,067 | $342 | $13,708 | $14,703 | $995 |
| Pennsylvania | $4,749 | $4,959 | $210 | $13,229 | $13,550 | $321 |
| Ohio | $4,261 | $4,669 | $408 | $11,870 | $13,083 | $1,213 |
| Michigan | $4,916 | $4,713 | ($203) | $13,160 | $13,148 | ($12) |
| Georgia | $4,692 | $4,786 | $94 | $12,792 | $13,114 | $322 |
| UNITED STATES | $4,669 | $4,940 | $271 | $13,027 | $13,871 | $844 |