Mainers who signed up for insurance through Healthcare.gov paid an average of $99 per month in premiums, according to federal figures released Wednesday.
That’s about a third of the $282 per month Maine consumers paid in 2010, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. The figures reflect those who buy their own coverage in the “individual market,” rather than get health insurance through work or government programs such as Medicare and Medicaid.
Maine consumers paid slightly more than the national average of $82 per month, the new U.S. Department of Health and Human Services report showed.
The report offered the first in-depth analysis of the prices consumers will pay for private plans offered through the federal government’s health insurance marketplace.
Nearly 90 percent of Maine residents who selected plans through Healthcare.gov qualified for tax credits to help them afford coverage.
The marketplace, a key component of President Barack Obama’s health reform law, allowed consumers to shop for health plans and, depending on income, qualify for federal financial assistance to offset their premiums and out-of-pocket costs.
During 2014, paying for those health insurance subsidies is expected to set the federal government back $20 billion, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
Without the tax credits, premiums in Maine averaged $443 per month, dropping 78 percent with the subsidy, according to Health and Human Services.
Mainers who selected silver plans, the most popular option, paid an average of $87 per month.
“Consumers have more choices, and they’re paying less for their premiums,” new U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell said in a news release. “Nearly seven in 10 consumers who signed up for marketplace coverage are paying $100 or less for that coverage. When there is choice and competition, everybody benefits.”
More than 44,000 Maine residents signed up for private coverage through Healthcare.gov during the open enrollment period that officially ended in March.
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