The public won’t know just what will happen to Nevada insurance premiums in 2015 until the fall, when the Insurance Division releases carriers’ new rates.
In the Affordable Care Act’s first year, though, Nevada has been dealt some of the highest premium spikes of any state, according to a recent report from the Manhattan Institute and Forbes magazine.
The findings? Nevada was one of just eight states seeing average premium increases of more than 80 percent. (The others were New Mexico, Iowa, Arkansas, Mississippi, Georgia, North Carolina and Vermont.)
Researchers looked particularly at rate changes among people ages 27, 40 and 64. As other analysts have reported, young men fared the worst, with 27-year-olds across the Silver State seeing average monthly premiums jump from $71 to $276, for a 289 percent increase. For 40-year-olds, premiums rose 183 percent, from $119 to $337. And 64-year-olds saw their average rise 124 percent, from $353 to $792.
Nevada’s premium hikes vary by region. A 27-year-old man in Clark County, where doctors’ networks are bigger and buying power is stronger, saw his monthly bill go from $52 to $178, for a 242 percent increase. That same person living in Elko or White Pine counties, however, saw his rate surge from $76 to $354, up 366 percent.
Observers have trouble explaining why Nevada’s rates have risen so much, but Forbes did note that heavily regulated individual insurance markets in states such as New York and Ohio seemed to benefit from big premium cuts.
The latest study backs up a February report by the Kaiser Family Foundation, which found that rural Nevada was the nation’s third most expensive insurance market post-Obamacare.
Of course, consumers who make less than 400 percent of the federal poverty level ($46,680 a year for a single person with no dependents) are getting subsidies to help cover the costs. The Manhattan Institute reported that federal tax credits are covering 76 percent on average of plans sold through state and federal health insurance exchanges.
You can also search premium increases by ZIP code. To plug in your ZIP, visit http://www.forbes.com/special-report/2013/what-will-obamacare-cost-you-map.html.