Surprise .. Surprise: Health Insurance Rates Likely to Rise in 2015

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said health-insurance premiums are "likely to go up" in 2015, an acknowledgment that the Obama administration doesn't believe the sweeping changes to the health-insurance marketplace will end premium increases in the near term.

Testifying Wednesday before the House Committee on Ways and Means about the White House's 2015 budget proposal, Mrs. Sebelius was peppered with questions about the impact of the Affordable Care Act, including one from Rep. Erik Paulsen (R., Minn.) about its effect on insurance rates.

"I think premiums are likely to go up, but at a smaller pace than what we've seen since 2010," Mrs. Sebelius said, adding that she thought the likely increases would be less significant than they had been in the years before the federal health-care law was enacted. 

The range of premiums people will see in 2015 is expected to be an important measure of the health-care law's success. Supporters have staked its success on providing coverage that people consider to be "affordable," though they have generally stopped short of claiming that its provisions will directly lead to premium decreases.

The law drastically overhauled the individual-insurance market with requirements that most Americans buy coverage, and that carriers offer a set level of coverage and price it equally for all customers, regardless of their medical history. 

For now, the impact of those changes is unknown, because insurers have just begun weighing their rates for the year to come. The enrollment period for coverage in the coming year is still open—it closes at the end of this month—and insurers are hoping to have more information about medical claims by the time they need to submit their proposed rates to federal and state governments later this spring.

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It's really obvious why rates are going up. The Younger and Healthier aren't signing up for these OVER BLOATED .. HIGHER DEDUCTIBLE .. HIGHER PRICED Premiums. They'll go without or want their Better (for them) .. cheaper .. cancelled plans back.

So those who DID sign up will be PAYING THE DIFFERENCE.

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