Feds release early health insurance premium costs

The federal government is providing a glimpse of what Missouri residents could pay for health insurance when enrollment opens next week for a new online marketplace.

Estimates released by the Department of Health and Human Services show a family of four with a $50,000 income could face average monthly premiums of $798 for a benchmark policy known as the “second-lowest-cost silver plan.” But that cost could decline to $282 a month after federal subsidies.

A similar plan for a 27-year-old individual earning $25,000 could carry an average monthly premium of $220, which could be reduced to $145 with subsidies.

Federal figures show Missourians could have fewer policy choices than residents in most states.

An ABC 17 News report last week showed Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield as the only insurer to publicly announce that it will participate in Missouri’s marketplace.

Then Tuesday, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that the state’s largest hospital system, BJC, would not likely participate in the marketplace. That means patients insured through the marketplace would not be covered at Columbia’s Boone Hospital.

Missouri is one of 36 states that are letting the federal government run their health insurance exchanges.

For more information about the health insurance marketplace, visit our new Health Care Reform section.