Georgians who bought health plans and qualified for tax credits on the federal Health Insurance Marketplace paid an average monthly premium of $54, new federal data shows.
Eighty-seven percent of Georgia consumers who signed up for the plans qualified for financial help to lower their premiums, according to a study released today by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The average monthly tax credit was $287.
“Consumers have more choices, and they’re paying less for their premiums,” Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell said in a statement. “When there is choice and competition, everybody benefits.”
Overall in states with federally run marketplaces, including Georgia, about 70 percent of Americans who selected plans with tax credits had premiums of $100 a month or less, the report shows. HHS did not provide data on the 14 state-run marketplaces.
Nationwide, more than 8 million people signed up for health coverage through the marketplace — a key component of the Affordable Care Act — during its first year of operation. Nearly 230,000 Georgians had enrolled in marketplace plans as of last week, according to the state Department of Insurance.
Federal health officials also said Tuesday that competition among insurers provided consumers with 47 marketplace plans to choose from on average across the country.
That competition could become even stiffer next year. Insurance giant UnitedHealthcare has said it is considering entering the federal marketplace in Georgia.
That could mean more choices for consumers, especially in rural areas of the state that have had very little competition thus far, said Bill Custer, a health insurance expert at Georgia State University.
Custer added that he doesn’t expect premiums for marketplace plans to increase very much in 2015, and rates may actually fall in some areas because of more insurers competing for business.
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