Have health insurers indicated that premiums will rise in 2021?
As the coronavirus epidemic began to spread across the U.S., it was not easy to gauge its impact on health insurers' costs and premiums in 2021. Insurers begin setting rates more than six months in advance, and forecasts of eventual COVID-19 costs vary widely with expectations about the severity and breadth of the epidemic.
An April survey by eHealth, a broker, found 83% of insurer respondents did not anticipate any increase in rates because of the crisis.
California's public health insurance exchange in March warned that costs associated with COVID-19 could result in 2021 premium increases ranging from 4% to over 40%. It said insurers could seek to recoup 2020 costs. The report cites a wide range of potential costs nationwide, between $34 billion and $251 billion.
