Big hike in premiums? Blame it on the kids

Dede Kennedy-simington, an insurance agent in Pasadena, Calif., was “totally dismayed” when she learned recently that the premium on her family’s Blue Shield PPO would rise $391 a month next year — driven largely by huge increases for her two teenage children.

The cost of insuring her 16-year-old daughter will spike 60 percent in 2018, and it will jump 38 percent for her 13-year-old son.

The price surge stems from a change in federal regulations that allows insurers to recalculate the health risks of children within a family’s premium bill.

“This hurts us, but it will be a total nonstarter for a lot of families,” Kennedy-simington said.

Despite the policy change for kids, they will still be considerably cheaper to cover than their parents. In Kennedy-simington’s case, her two teens account for more than half of the premium increase but less than one-third of the total 2018 premium.

Premiums are rising for a lot of reasons next year. Among the most publicized is a decision by the Trump administration to stop paying insurers for certain subsidies they provide to low-income health plan enrollees under the Affordable Care Act.

Another factor is the complicated new rule, approved last year by the Obama administration, that allows insurance companies to assign more of a family’s overall premium cost to children in individual and small-group policies, starting Enrollment for coverage under the Affordable Care Act is open through Dec. 15. For details, see