Employee Benefit News for School, City and County Employers

Healthcare premiums down to $100 or less in 2014

Written by Valerie Ortiz | Jun 20, 2014 4:03:21 PM

The cost of monthly healthcare premiums recently saw one of its biggest price decreases after a new Department of Health and Human Services report showed that 70 percent of customers who bought in on the federal exchange for 2014 only saw premiums at $100 or less a month.

The average monthly premium was once $346 before tax credits. It has now dropped to $82 across all plan types, with the most popular coming from HealthCare.gov, which only costs an average of $69 a month.

Of the people receiving less costly monthly premiums, 90 percent of the customers had purchased their plans off the government healthcare website.

"Now that (insurers) have more information, there's going to be more accurate pricing which will help" improve rates for those who do and don't receive federal subsidies, said Bryce Williams, manager director of benefits at Towers Watson, a consulting firm, according to USA Today.

Through the HealthCare.gov, 96 percent of customers had the ability to choose from between 2 and 11 different insurers, which led to better decisions for those who were struggling to find an affordable plan within their state, the source reported.