CBO: Senate health plan to raise premiums - Washington Times

CBO: Senate health plan to raise premiums - Washington Times: "People who purchase health care individually could face premium hikes of up to 13 percent under the Senate health care overhaul, but the vast majority of Americans would not be hit by rate increases, according to a new report that drove the first day of contentious debate on the Democrats' legislation.

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO), a nonpartisan budget-keeper, found that the approximately 18 million people who buy insurance on the individual market and qualify for new income-based tax subsidies would see their costs fall by more than half; the 14 million people who don't qualify would see their costs jump 10 to 13 percent.

The CBO also found that people who get their insurance coverage through an employer or large group plan - about 70 percent of Americans - would see premium prices remain the same or fall by up to 3 percent. It based its estimates on what premiums would look like in 2016, and warned they are rough estimates.

Lawmakers on both sides used the report to bolster their arguments as the Senate officially began debate on the bill, a 10-year, $979 billion plan to establish a government-run insurance program, set up tax credits to help the poor meet a mandate that nearly all Americans purchase insurance, and reform the insurance industry."