Covered California Open Enrollment Begins Amid Rising Rates

SAN FRANCISCO (KPIX 5) – Tuesday marks the beginning of open enrollment for Covered California. Several changes are in store this year, and they include rising rates.

In the past two years, enrollees on the health insurance exchange have seen slight increases, but this one will have more of an impact.

This year's average premium hike is a little more than 13 percent for the state's 1.4 million enrollees.

Danville resident Julie McGill is a self-proclaimed Obamacare nerd, who knows her numbers.

So when she first learned her insurance premiums were going up by $564 a month, she thought it was a mistake.

"Right now, it's getting to the point where it's getting so expensive, I don't know what I'm going to do," said McGill.

That comes out to nearly an extra $7,000 a year, an increase of 38 percent.

But according to Covered California, the average rate increase where she lives in Danville is 19 to 25 percent.

McGill said we need to be brutally honest about how much more people really are paying.

"I just wanted the news and media to know that the rates are really high, much higher than what's being publicized," said McGill.

Dana Howard with Covered California confirmed there will be a spike this year.

"The biggest factor in the increases that you're seeing this time is the guardrails and subsidies that were being given to the insurance companies to stabilize the insurance rates," said Howard. "Well, those are expiring this year."

The massive federal subsidies that are expiring, make up about 7 percent of the increase.

Also, the overall cost of care and drugs has gone up.

And finally, a significant number of people have been gaming the system by signing up only after they get sick.

"Covered California is cracking down on that practice of people waiting until they get sick and then using that as an excuse to be able to become eligible for coverage," explained Howard.

McGill has been battling skin cancer since 2012 and appreciates the Obamacare protections for pre-existing conditions.

She said she'll be making those higher payments, because she really has no better choice.

"I'm not raising this issue to politicize it. I'm raising this issue so that it can be solved," said McGill. "Not because it's the democrats' fault or the republicans' fault.

Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield of California requested an even bigger hike, but because most of the other participating insurers requested smaller ones, enrollees ended up with a 13.2 percent increase.

This spike was denounced by Consumer Watchdog, an advocacy group that backed a failed 2014 ballot measure that would have given regulators more power over insurance rates.

To limit the impact, consumers can always try to change plans, but that may require people to change doctors.

United Healthcare is also officially leaving the exchange. With only 1,200 enrollees in the Golden State, it's expected to have a minimal impact.

Open enrollment ends on January 31, 2017.