November 09, 2010 02:10 AM UTC

Health reform NOT driving up rates, Colorado Division of Insurance proves

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• by: CCHI

( – promoted by Colorado Pols)

At the end of last week, at a bad time in the news cycle, the Colorado Division of Insurance released a stunning piece of actuarial data crunching. They looked at the rate filings for increases to health insurance premium renewal filings for 2011 and drilled all the way down into the “why are rates so high” question.

Their answer: Don’t blame the Affordable Care Act. In Colorado, the new provisions of federal health reform have contributed, at MAXIMUM 5% to the overall increase of health insurance premiums. And the 5% rates are the outliers; most are in the 1-3 % range.

Yet the health industry and others trying to block implementation of the Affordable Care Act have blamed it for increases of “20%!” “25%!” “30%!” And while the media has widely reported the exaggerated hyperbole of NFIB and the U.S. Chamber about the increases in health insurance premiums, they haven’t been nearly as eager to report the facts that DOI has released.

From DOI’s press release:

“It’s a hot issue for many people, and we figured the best way to address the rumors was to publish the facts, so people could see for themselves what is driving the price of health insurance,” said Marcy Morrison, Commissioner of Insurance.

In fact, Division of Insurance has released a chart on how much each new mandate in federal reform has affected rates. For paying an additional 0-5% on your health insurance, you get:

– expansion of coverage for young adults up to age 26

– elimination of pre-existing conditions for kids up to 19

– phasing out of annual limit

– removal of lifetime limits

– prohibiting companies from dropping when you get sick

– covering preventative services with $0 cost sharing

The difference this time is that you actually get something for your money.

Read the DOI’s fact sheet on factors affecting rates in 2010. And don’t believe the hype.