Oregon Health Insurance Rates For Individuals Skyrocket

By Kristian Foden-Vencil (OPB)
Portland, Oregon July 1, 2016 4:52 p.m.

People buying their own health insurance in Oregon can expect to see costs skyrocket next year.

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The state has just released its final decision on health insurance pricing.

Individual plans are increasing dramatically, from 9.8 percent at Health Net to a whopping 32 percent at Oregon Health CO-OP.

What that means for the bottom line is that a 40-year-old living in Portland, who buys a silver plan with Kaiser Permanente, for example, will see their monthly bill increase from about $270 a month to just over $310 — and that’s the cheapest plan.

At the other end of the spectrum stands PacificSource. For basically the same silver plan, prices jump from $390 a month to more than $440.

On the bright side, about 70 percent of consumers who purchased polices on the exchange, receive tax credits to help compensate for big increases.

The state reviews rates to ensure they’re sufficient but not excessive. This year, the state found most rates to be reasonable but it decreased Providence’s rates — for having a profit margin that was too high — and Moda’s because of calculation errors.

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