People who purchase insurance on their own faced premium hike rates around 20 percent, survey finds

The New York Times: People who purchase health insurance on their own were faced with premium increases averaging 20 percent when they last sought to renew their coverage, according to a survey (.pdf) released Monday by the Kaiser Family Foundation. (KHN is a project of the Kaiser Family Foundation.) "While some people switched to less expensive plans that offered less generous coverage, and others negotiated lower prices than their insurers initially requested, the people surveyed still reported an average increase of 13 percent on their health insurance costs" - rate increases "health insurers say … reflect the rapid growth in the underlying cost of medical care" (Abelson, 6/21).

The Associated Press: "That hike tops last year's average 5 percent annual increase for employer-sponsored family coverage and almost unchanged premiums for employer-sponsored single coverage, though foundation Vice President Gary Claxton said the comparisons come with qualifications. The individual insurance survey asked respondents for their most recent premium increases, which can happen more or less frequently than the annual increases mostly seen in the group market, he said." According to KFF, an estimated 14 million Americans younger than age 65 obtain their health insurance through the non-group or individual market while about 157 million get coverage through an employer. The survey, which was conducted in March and April, polled 1,038 randomly selected people across the country (Murphy, 6/21).