Question: Does everyone come to the Exchange as an individual? Or, does family pricing exist to offer more advantageous pricing for households?
Answer: Not sure if family rates will be available. They have not been released yet. The sample rates that have been released so far are for individuals only. That was done in the interests of simplicity.
There will no longer be what was once known as “family” coverage (insured + spouse, insured + child, insured + spouse + child, insured + 2 or more children, insured + spouse + 2 or more children). The PPACA allows insurance companies to charge different rates according to age, but the maximum rate for a person age 64 cannot be more than three times the cost for a person age 19.
There will not be different rates for persons with preexisting conditions, which is why the cost of health insurance for almost all persons will increase under the PPACA, not decrease as our elected officials in Washington wanted everyone to believe. Older persons are the ones most likely to see a small reduction in the cost of their insurance, thanks to the “3x Rule”.
Kaiser is already charging a separate price for each person in the family on individual plans. No more family rates. They have also indicated that each person will be charged by their age starting in Jan, 2014. Is that true??