Health insurers predict they will pass on health law's new tax to consumers

A report financed by insurance trade group America's Health Insurance Plans predicts that premiums will increase by about 2 percent in 2014, and 3 to 4 percent by 2023.

Bloomberg: Health Law Premium Tax Will Boost Small-Group Coverage Costs, Insurers Say
Health insurance premiums for people buying coverage through small-employer markets will increase by as much as 3.7 percent, or $3,100, over 10 years as a new tax takes effect in 2014, a study by U.S. insurers found. The analysis by America's Health Insurance Plans, a trade group, shows the new tax on insurers would be passed onto consumers and boost premiums for individuals and families, as well as seniors and the disabled who participate in Medicare Advantage plans and the government's prescription drug program. U.S. health regulators and a consumer group dismissed the conclusions as "fundamentally flawed," saying the study examines only one provision of the 2010 health care law, while ignoring others designed to lower costs and boost transparency (Eisenberg, 11/3).

National Journal: Health Insurers Plan To Pass Along New Tax To Patients
Health insurers are not pulling any punches. They say they plan to pass new taxes under the 2010 health reform law directly to consumers through higher premiums. A report financed by America's Health Insurance Plans predicts that premiums will increase by about 2 percent in 2014, and 3 to 4 percent by 2023, once insurance companies pass along a federal tax that will hit in 2014. "Those individuals and families who are not eligible for [government] subsidies … will bear the full cost of the fees, requiring that they pay more out-of-pocket and making coverage less affordable," consulting firm Oliver Wyman wrote in the report, released late on Wednesday (McCarthy, 11/3).

CQ HealthBeat: Insurance Lobby Report Predicts Premium Increases From Health Care Law Fee
In its continuing effort to get rid of the health overhaul law's annual fee on insurers, America's Health Insurance Plans late Wednesday released an analysis the trade group commissioned that says that in 2014 premiums would increase by 1.9 percent to 2.3 percent because of this levy. "AHIP commissioned this report as part of its ongoing effort to raise awareness about the impact the tax will have on consumers, employers and public program beneficiaries," says a post on the AHIP blog. The report was prepared by the Oliver Wyman consulting firm (Bunis, 11/3).

Meanwhile, in other insurance news -;

NPR's SHOTS blog: Insurance Penalties For Smokers Draw Wide Support
Across the country, employers are rewarding some workers, such as those who exercise, and penalizing those who are overweight or smoke. We wondered how that approach is going over, so we asked more than 3,000 adults across the U.S. in the latest NPR-Thomson Reuters Health Poll. A solid majority -; 59 percent -; say that smokers should pay more for health insurance than nonsmokers. ... But the majority in all groups opposed higher fees for the overweight (Hensley, 11/3).