The only insurance company offering health insurance policies on the Obamacare health insurance exchange wants to increase premiums nearly 57 percent next year.
Medica Insurance filed an updated rate request for 2018. And while they say that many Iowans in the individual health insurance market will be eligible for federal subsidies, President Trump has threatened to end them all because Congress has failed to act on health insurance. Medica says uncertainty over the future of the subsidies predicated their increase requests.
Medica says a 40 year old Des Moines resident making $48,000 a year would likely see their monthly premium go up nearly $370 without the subsidies. With all the subsidies it would go up about $100 a month.
State Insurance Commissioner Doug Ommen says there are as many as 43,000 Iowans who rely on subsidies to make health insurance affordable. He says they're still trying to get the federal government to approve their stopgap plan that he says would cut the increased premiums in half for Iowa.