Prices falling on ACA insurance exchange

First time prices have fallen since exchanges first started in 2013.

In filings so far, premiums for the average individual plan on Affordable Care Act exchange are down 7% for 2020.

For the first time since the Affordable Care Act exchanges were created, premiums for the average individual health insurance plan will be getting cheaper.

This year, the average premium was $6,162 for an individual policy. For 2020, based on what insurers have filed so far, the average premium will be $5,731, which is down 7 percent.

Open enrollment begins on Nov.1 and runs through Dec. 15.

Robert Denhard, spokesman for Ohio Department of Insurance, said this is the first time the average annual premium for individual plans decreased since the start of the exchange.

While cheaper on average than last year, insurance premiums for these plans will still be more than twice as expensive on average when compared to how much they were when the exchanges first started in 2013, when the average premium was $2,650.

The actual price people pay varies depending on what plan, what county and whether that person qualifies for subsidies.

There will also be more options

continued from B1 for some Ohioans.

Only one county in Ohio will have just one insurer selling individual plans next year. This year, 16 Ohio coun- ties had only one insurer.

Only a small percentage of Ohioans — 207,000 out of more than 8.8 million Ohio adults — buy health insur- ance on the exchanges.

The number of people buying individual plans also declined this year by about 10 percent in Ohio.

In Montgomery County alone, about 1,500 fewer peo- ple bought individual plans for 2019 on the exchange.

Ten companies filed with Ohio to sell individual plans in 2020, same as this year.

The exchanges created the option to comparison shop plans with government-regulated consumer protections and many shoppers qualify for help paying for these insurance plans. However, the Dayton Daily News has previously reported that the middle-class consumer who doesn’t qualify for subsidies could be struggle to pay for a plan.