Some in West Tenn. alarmed by rising health care premiums
JACKSON, Tenn. — More Tennesseans are insured today than have been in 10 years. Some said it is because of the Affordable Care Act, yet that same federal measure is being blamed for skyrocketing premiums that could alter that statistic drastically in the coming year. Tennesseans who pay for their healthcare through the Affordable Care Act are feeling the increase in prices, and some said the price for them is just too much. “It was almost double in price,” Madison County resident, Luke Britt, told WBBJ 7 Eyewitness News, Tuesday. Since he is self-employed, Britt must seek his own form of health insurance. When the Affordable Care Act was became available, he said it just was not for him. “I looked into the prices, but I didn’t go in depth into it. Once I saw what the prices were, I decided it wasn’t an option for me,” said Britt. Those premiums have seriously increased for many West Tennesseans in just the last year, something that was planned from the beginning and part of the original paperwork signed by every participant. Still viewers sounded off on the WBBJ Facebook page, some saying their monthly costs have doubled or even tripled in just 12 months. “What we are seeing is that the premiums did go up for the majority,” said Executive Director of Patient Access, Beth Wells, Tuesday. Officials at West Tennessee Healthcare who specialize in assisting patients with the Affordable Care Act say it is proving not affordable at all for many. “Because we’ve not had medicaid expansion in the state of Tennessee, there is a population that exist out there that it truly is not affordable for them,” said Wells. A new study said the uninsured rate in the state is at a ten year low, in part due to the Affordable Healthcare Act. But West Tennessee Healthcare officials said that is not the trend they are seeing. “That’s not consistent with what we’re seeing here,” said Well. “We’ve really not seen a major change in our rates of our uninsured population.” West Tennessee Healthcare says 8 percent of their patients are still uninsured. The state average is 7.2 percent. For information on signing up for the Affordable Healthcare Act, click the following link: https://www.healthcare.gov/
