Impact of Regulations
on Health Insurance Company Premiums

$34,000 to $52,000 per year premiums:
an example of sky-rocketing costs when tough regulations are applied … as already clearly demonstrated in the state of New York

Summary

The state of New York has regulations on insurance companies that are similar in concept to what the U.S. is now placing on all insurance companies in all states (as of the new law PPACA/HCERA, the Affordable Care Act of 2010, also known as Obamacare or Obama's health care law).

A family in Allegany County, one of the poorest counties in the state of New York, can buy HMO health insurance for roughly $34,000 to $52,000 per year. The latter is not much different than the entire median family income for a year in the U.S.

Minimum Cost; Only the Premiums

There are some advantages to paying the higher amount: the health insurance plan does not ration your care quite as much as being within an HMO. However, it does not eliminate in-network and out-of-network restrictions, co-pays, deductibles and the coinsurance for major medical bills. In other words, the cost of $52,000 per year for the more expensive plan is the minimum cost involved.

Putting these numbers on a monthly basis:
     Lowest: about $2,900 per month
     Highest: over $4,300 per month

Details

The state of New York has special regulations on health insurance companies:

” … New York has addressed the problem of underinsurance by requiring, through regulation, that insurers provide adequate benefits. Also, they must accept anyone, regardless of health status (though they can enforce a waiting period to prevent individuals from waiting until they need care to apply for coverage). Innovative insurance products that keep premiums competitive by shifting significant costs to the insured are prohibited in New York.”

The associated state of New York health insurance rates are extremely high, such as for one of the poorest counties in the state of New York:

• Range of premiums per month for a family for Allegany County in NY
  • Family HMO plan: $2,860.94/mo - 3,557.23/mo November 2011
  • Family POS plan: $3,748.11/mo - 4,297.91/mo November 2011

Sources and Additional Information

Comments about the regulations: PNHP article of April 28, 2009
http://www.pnhp.org/news/2009/april/new_york_hmopos_dea.php
New York health insurance rates for Allegany County:
— November 2011 (pdf file)
http://www.medicareforall.org/files/New York__Allegany County ins rates 2011 11.pdf
— current rates for Allegany County:
http://www.dfs.ny.gov/insurance/hmorates/pdf/Allegany.pdf

Insurance rates for all counties in New York state:
http://www.dfs.ny.gov/insurance/ihmoindx.htm