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MARKETWATCH
Trends In The Golden State: Small-Group Premiums Rise Sharply While Actuarial Values For Individual Coverage Plummet
Jon Gabel,
Jeremy Pickreign,
Roland McDevitt,
Heidi Whitmore,
Laura Gandolfo,
Ryan Lore and
Katy Wilson
Using multiple databases, this paper examines recent trends in the affordability and comprehensiveness of small-group and individual health insurance markets in California. Both became less affordable over the study period. In 2006, a single person age 32–52 earning the median income who purchased individual insurance spent on average 16 percent of income on premiums and out-of-pocket medical expenses. For individual insurance, the share of medical expenses paid by insurance as opposed to patients declined from 2002 to 2006. In the small-group market, premiums rose more than 50 percent from 2003 to 2006, but the proportion of claims paid by insurers for a standardized population remained constant.
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