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Study shows Obamacare plans, and subsidies, rising in Tampa Bay area

 
Published Nov. 28, 2014

The prices of standard health plans on the Affordable Care Act insurance marketplace are increasing next year by double-digit percentages in the Tampa Bay region.

But 90 percent of Floridians who bought insurance on the exchanges received tax subsidies, and those could also go up enough to help soften the blow, according to a new analysis.

There's a catch: You don't immediately get the recalculated subsidy unless you go back to the enrollment site, Healthcare.gov.

"That's one of the reasons we tell people to go back in and update their information," said Melanie Hall, executive director of the Family Healthcare Foundation in Tampa. Hall, whose group received federal "navigator" funds to help people sign up for insurance, said she expects plenty of local consumers will find out their subsidies are going up.

The Obama administration wanted to make it easier to let people stay in plans they bought last year by automatically renewing them. But the numbers crunched by ValuePenguin, a New York firm that analyzes consumer financial data, show just how bad an idea that could be.

Federal subsidies are calculated by more than just your income. Another factor is the price of a standard "benchmark" plan — the second-cheapest silver policy in the county where the consumer lives. Plans are categorized as bronze, silver, gold or platinum depending on the coverage level.

So even if your income does not change, you could get a higher subsidy if the benchmark plan goes up — and a lower one if it goes down.

Some benchmark plans are coming down in some areas, but not, the analysis shows, in the Tampa Bay region.

Consumers who should have been getting the additional tax credits may not learn they've been missing out until they file their 2015 tax returns — and only then will they get the proper credits.

In addition, consumers who return to healthcare.gov may find cheaper plans, said Jonathan Wu, the chief executive officer of ValuePenguin.

"What we're trying to illustrate to consumers is that they should be encouraged to revisit the site," Wu said.