Health Insurance Changes Uncertain

04-06-2010

According to a recent article from Kaiser Health News, experts foresee changes to all health insurance plans as a result of the new healthcare bill that was passed into law in March.  Though some aspects of the bill, such as not allowing insurers to reject children with medical conditions, are aimed at non-group insurance plans, other changes will impact the group market.  The extent of those changes will be determined by the regulatory arm of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), leaving many employers and insurers uncertain of what to expect in the coming months and years. 

Of course the largest concern related to prospective insurance changes is cost.  The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates that by 2016 when the bill is fully implemented, costs should not be any higher for larger employers than they would have been without the bill, and they estimate that smaller employers may actually experience a reduction in premium costs.  Individuals, however, may still experience increases in their premiums, though about half of the individuals who experience cost increases will be assisted by government subsidies.

For more information on the expected changes to insurance plans, visit Kaiser Health News.