Subsidies Cover 74% of Premium Costs for Wisconsinites Eligible for Marketplace Tax Credits

Over 8 million Americans have signed up for health insurance through the federal Marketplace that began operating in January, and new data released today show that most individuals participating in the Marketplace are paying less than $100 per month for their coverage.  Here are some of the highlights in the new national and state-level data from the federal Dept. of Health and Human Services:

• 90% of Wisconsinites (and 87% of all Americans) who have selected Marketplace insurance plans chose plans that are eligible for premium tax credits.
• Among the people eligible for those credits, the average net premium is $112 per month in Wisconsin (and just $82 per month for the U.S. as a whole).
• The average tax credit is $316 per month in Wisconsin, compared to $264 nationally.
• The average premium before the credits are considered is $427 per month in WI (vs. $346 nationally), and the premium tax credits reduce that by 74% (vs. 76% for all of the U.S.).
• Among the people in the Marketplace eligible for the tax credits, 57% in Wisconsin and 69% nationally have net premiums of $100 per month or less.
• Focusing more specifically on the large majority of Marketplace participants who chose silver plans (which also potentially qualify them for subsidies for their cost-sharing, such as copays and deductibles), the net premiums are even lower — $103 per month in Wisconsin and $69 nationally.

Only five other states have higher net costs per month among the people who selected silver plans.  (WI is tied for sixth highest with Delaware).  Although that fact is disappointing, being above the national average isn’t too painful when the average net premium for a silver plan in our state is just $103 per month.

You can read the HHS press release and get more details on the findings from today’s report here.  You can read the report in its entirety here.

Jon Peacock