State health plan costs within estimates
Premiums are set for poor residents
The premiums insurers will charge to cover the poorest Massachusetts residents are in line with what the architects of the state's new health insurance law predicted, meaning there should be enough money to pay for the plan in its initial year, officials said.
State regulators set the rates yesterday for residents who lack insurance and earn less than 300 percent of the poverty level, $29,412 for a single person. The four insurers offering coverage will charge monthly premiums of $276 to $391, depending on the type of plan a resident enrolls in and where they live. For residents at or below the poverty level, $9,804 for a single person, the state will pay the entire premium. For those above the poverty level, the state will pay a portion of the cost, with the state subsidy shrinking as income rises.
Governor Mitt Romney's administration had estimated that premiums would be about $300 a month, while legislative staff members had predicted they would average $325.
Health and Human Services Secretary Timothy Murphy said yesterday the premiums are close enough to the administration's predictions that he believes the program will have adequate funding, especially given that the number of uninsured residents has dropped since the initial calculations were made.
Patrick Holland, chief financial officer for the Commonwealth Health Insurance Connector, the agency that set the premiums and is overseeing implementation of the law, agreed. He said the estimated cost of the state subsidies will be about 10 percent less than the projected $160 million this fiscal year, which ends June 30. Boston Medical Center's HealthNet, Cambridge Health Alliance's Network Health, Neighborhood Health Plan, and Fallon Community Health Plan bid to cover this first wave of uninsured residents who will be covered under the law.
Enrollment of residents below the poverty level begins Monday, while enrollment of uninsured residents with incomes between 100 percent and 300 percent of the poverty level is scheduled to begin Jan. 1.
