Obama administration officials are blasting a Wall Street Journal article about recent increases in U.S. health insurance prices.
Janet Adamy, a Wall Street Journal reporter, says in an article printed on top of the front page that carriers are blaming requirements in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), a component of the Affordable Care Act package, for much of the increase.
Total premium increases for some consumers could exceed 20%, Adamy writes.
Celtic Insurance Company, Chicago, has proposed a 18% increase for Wisconsin and North Carolina, with 9 percentage points coming from PPACA provisions, according to the Wall Street Journal.
ODS Health Plan, Portland, Ore., is attributing 6.01 percentage points of a proposed 20.73% increase to PPACA, and the Mennonite Mutual Aid Association, Hutchinson, Kan., is attributing all of a 4% proposed increase to PPACA, the paper says.
Adamy quotes Karen Ignagni, president of America’s Health Insurance Plans, Washington, as saying, “Anytime you add a benefit, there are increased costs.”
Adamy also reports that a few carriers are hoping PPACA will lower their costs. HMO Colorado, part of WellPoint Inc., Indianapolis (NYSE:WLP), says its small group rates might fall 1.8% Oct. 1 due to
PPACA-related changes, Adamy says.