Letters: Put brakes on rising health-insurance costs

ISSUE | HEALTH CARE

Insurance unaffordable

I am worried about proposed health-insurance rate hikes proposed for next year. Aetna has requested an 18 percent increase for its HMO, and Independence Blue Cross's Keystone Health Plan East, also an HMO, has proposed a 13 percent increase.

Medical treatments are getting pricier every year, and a recent study by the University of Michigan found that patients are bearing a much larger share of that cost. According to the four-year study, deductibles rose 86 percent and coinsurance costs increased 33 percent. And the costs of prescription drugs continue to soar.

After being laid off from my job in January, I found insurance through the Affordable Care Act. I receive tax credits, but my rising premium has forced me to dip into my savings, and I have postponed doctor appointments because of high co-pays.

The proposed rate hikes would prevent me from maintaining coverage.

I urge Pennsylvania Insurance Commissioner Teresa Miller to consider the hardship increased rates would pose to citizens.

|Patricia Kopicki, Philadelphia