COLUMBUS, Ohio – The federal government says many Ohioans who signed up for the most popular health insurance plans through the exchange set up under the health care reform law will pay as little as one-third of the premium, thanks to tax credits.
According to a report released Wednesday by the Department of Health and Human Services, Ohioans who selected “silver” plans, the most popular plan type, would pay an average monthly premium $372, but that falls to $111 per month after subsidized tax credits are figured in.
Many Ohioans who didn’t qualify for the tax subsidies did not sign up for coverage through the exchange because they did not believe they could afford the payment, says Chris Brock, communication director for the Ohio Department of Insurance. A report from the grassroots enrollment organization Enroll America estimates 48 percent of Americans who did not try to enroll said it was because of perceived higher premiums.
In Ohio, the federal government report claims 52 percent of those who enrolled through the exchange will premiums of $100 a month or less, after the tax subsidies, and 24 percent of them would pay $50 a month or less.
The Ohio Insurance Department says the federal premium estimates are higher than those released by the state last year, until an estimated $40.1 million per month in subsidies are factored in for the 154,000 Ohio residents who qualify for them, said Brock.
Ohio’s insurance director, Lt. Gov. Mary Taylor, has been a vocal critic of the health care reform law known as Obamacare.
The government data covers only the 36 states where the federal government took the lead in setting up new insurance markets. The average premium is $346 a month nationwide, but the typical enrollee pays just $82, according to the report.