In a not so surprising report released this week, health insurance premiums have more than double for most insured people in nearly every state – and the bottom line for insurers continues to improve.
QuoteWizard®, a LendingTree company, and one of the nation’s online insurance marketplaces released a report on how top health insurers reported billions in profit prior to -and even during- the pandemic.
From the press release on the report:
With many in the U.S. struggling during the pandemic, it’s health insurance companies that are thriving. Top health insurance companies UnitedHealth Group, Humana and Anthem reported billion-dollar second-quarter profits that doubled year over year. How is it that health insurance companies could be raking in massive profit during a pandemic that is seeing hospital capacity overwhelmed, people losing employer health insurance and unpaid health care piling up?
View the full report here.
Key Findings:
- Health insurance companies report doubling billion-dollar profits during the pandemic in Q2 2020 compared to Q2 2019.
- Since 2009, employer health care premiums rose 57%, or an average of $7,459 per year.
- United Healthcare reported a medical loss ratio of 70.2%, accounting for its record profits in Q2 2020.
- The Affordable Care Act mandates insurance companies return 80% of profits back to policyholders in the form of rebates.
- Hospital debt increased from $617 million in 2015 to $56 billion in 2018.
Rankings below are based on which states saw the largest increase in employer-sponsored family health insurance premiums from 2009 to 2019.
|
Rank
|
State
|
2009 Average Cost
|
2019 Average Cost
|
% Increase
|
|
1
|
Montana
|
$11,365
|
$20,193
|
77.7%
|
|
2
|
South Dakota
|
$11,596
|
$20,265
|
74.8%
|
|
3
|
Oklahoma
|
$11,417
|
$19,819
|
73.6%
|
|
4
|
South Carolina
|
$12,343
|
$20,973
|
69.9%
|
|
5
|
New York
|
$13,757
|
$22,874
|
66.3%
|
|
6
|
Kentucky
|
$12,407
|
$20,612
|
66.1%
|
|
7
|
Ohio
|
$11,870
|
$19,621
|
65.3%
|
|
8
|
California
|
$12,631
|
$20,788
|
64.6%
|
|
9
|
Indiana
|
$12,872
|
$21,169
|
64.5%
|
|
10
|
Hawaii
|
$11,826
|
$19,243
|
62.7%
|
|
11
|
Delaware
|
$12,682
|
$20,628
|
62.7%
|
|
12
|
West Virginia
|
$12,554
|
$20,403
|
62.5%
|
|
13
|
Arkansas
|
$10,969
|
$17,773
|
62.0%
|
|
14
|
Idaho
|
$11,887
|
$19,258
|
62.0%
|
|
15
|
Alaska
|
$14,182
|
$22,969
|
62.0%
|
|
16
|
Missouri
|
$12,353
|
$19,900
|
61.1%
|
|
17
|
New Jersey
|
$13,750
|
$22,060
|
60.4%
|
|
18
|
Florida
|
$12,912
|
$20,714
|
60.4%
|
|
19
|
Kansas
|
$11,829
|
$18,867
|
59.5%
|
|
20
|
North Dakota
|
$11,590
|
$18,400
|
58.8%
|
|
21
|
Nebraska
|
$12,227
|
$19,398
|
58.6%
|
|
22
|
Texas
|
$13,221
|
$20,966
|
58.6%
|
|
23
|
Virginia
|
$12,622
|
$19,865
|
57.4%
|
|
24
|
Utah
|
$11,869
|
$18,674
|
57.3%
|
|
United States
|
$13,027
|
$20,486
|
57.3%
|
|
25
|
Minnesota
|
$13,202
|
$20,751
|
57.2%
|
|
26
|
Washington
|
$12,758
|
$20,033
|
57.0%
|
|
27
|
Pennsylvania
|
$13,229
|
$20,673
|
56.3%
|
|
28
|
Arizona
|
$12,813
|
$19,966
|
55.8%
|
|
29
|
Iowa
|
$12,036
|
$18,752
|
55.8%
|
|
30
|
Michigan
|
$13,160
|
$20,425
|
55.2%
|
|
31
|
Tennessee
|
$12,134
|
$18,748
|
54.5%
|
|
32
|
Georgia
|
$12,792
|
$19,720
|
54.2%
|
|
33
|
Maine
|
$13,522
|
$20,731
|
53.3%
|
|
34
|
North Carolina
|
$13,087
|
$19,996
|
52.8%
|
|
35
|
Connecticut
|
$14,064
|
$21,363
|
51.9%
|
|
36
|
Oregon
|
$12,783
|
$19,405
|
51.8%
|
|
37
|
Colorado
|
$13,360
|
$20,171
|
51.0%
|
|
38
|
Illinois
|
$13,708
|
$20,659
|
50.7%
|
|
39
|
Rhode Island
|
$13,608
|
$20,481
|
50.5%
|
|
40
|
New Mexico
|
$12,848
|
$19,185
|
49.3%
|
|
41
|
Alabama
|
$11,978
|
$17,734
|
48.1%
|
|
42
|
Nevada
|
$12,700
|
$18,720
|
47.4%
|
|
43
|
Vermont
|
$14,558
|
$21,419
|
47.1%
|
|
44
|
Maryland
|
$13,833
|
$20,285
|
46.6%
|
|
45
|
Massachusetts
|
$14,723
|
$21,424
|
45.5%
|
|
46
|
New Hampshire
|
$13,822
|
$20,078
|
45.3%
|
|
47
|
Mississippi
|
$12,590
|
$17,860
|
41.9%
|
|
48
|
Wyoming
|
$14,319
|
$19,925
|
39.2%
|
|
49
|
Wisconsin
|
$14,656
|
$20,345
|
38.8%
|
|
50
|
Louisiana
|
$13,846
|
$19,032
|
37.5%
|
Methodology
QuoteWizard analyzed State Health Access Data Assistance Center data on annual average costs of employer health insurance plans. We looked at the average costs of a family insurance plan from a period of 2009 to 2019 to evaluate the growth rate of insurance plan costs. Each state was evaluated over the 10-year time period to see which states saw the largest growth in health insurance premiums.
NELDA SMITH
September 5, 2020 at 5:51 pm
WE VOTE FOR AN INSURANCE COMMISSIONER WHO SHOULD BE DOING HIS JOB TO LOWER EVERY GEORGIA CITIZEN`S HOME, AUTO, HEALTH AND LIFE INSURANCE PREMIUMS, NOT ALLOW THEM TO BE RAISED! GEORGIA CITIZEN`S PAY SOME OF THE HIGHEST COSTS IN AUTO INSURANCE IN THE USA THOUGH GA. DRIVERS ARE RANKED AS GOOD DRIVERS…WHY IS THIS? WE NEED OUR INSURANCE COMMISSIONER TO DO HIS JOB AND GET ALL GA. CITIZEN`s INSURANCE RATES LOWERED!