Cover Oregon – Health Insurance Exchange Update

Last week the Oregon Insurance Division released a sample of proposed health insurance rates for the upcoming health insurance exchange.  These are suggested rates only and it is not clear if or how much they may change.  When reviewing the web page from the first link below note that in all three coverage levels each carrier is offering the same amount of coverage.  Next take a look at the pricing for each of the three levels as there are significant price differences between carriers.  In the second link you will see a summary of benefits for each plan.  
The lowest level plan, bronze, covers about 58% of expected medical costs.  The two levels above bronze pay about 10% more in each subsequent step.  For a single person the yearly deductible begins at $5000 in the bronze plan and decreases in the gold plan to $1300.  Interestingly the out-of-pocket maximum remains the same for all plans at $6400.

As I noted in my article dated March 5^th, 2013 the rates for the health insurance exchange should be finalized in July of this year.  On October 1^st, 2013 Oregon’s health insurance exchange, Cover Oregon, will begin selling plans to individuals and small businesses with less than 50 employees.  Stay tuned for updates.

Samples of Proposed Rates

http://www.oregonhealthrates.org/?pg=proposed_rates.html

Summary of Coverage

http://www.oregonhealthrates.org/files/plan_summary.pdf