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As health insurers file their proposed 2015 rates for Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act marketplace plans, expected health insurance premium increases have become the focus of various studies and news reports.
In order to find out what drives premium rates, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation researchers analyzed 2013 financial statement data filed by all health insurers and reported by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. Here are seven of the cost categories they identified that drove rates in 2013 and the percentage of individual market premiums they accounted for.
1. Medical claims (84.6 percent)
2. General and administrative (8.1 percent)
3. Distribution (5.1 percent)
4. Claims adjustment (2.1 percent)
5. Cost containment (1.2 percent)
6. Taxes and fees (1 percent)
7. Quality improvement (0.9 percent)