Did single premiums rise equally fast for all types of health insurance plans?
One of the most important factors determining the health insurance premium is the type of providers covered by the plan. Premiums increased from 1996 to 1999 regardless of the type of provider arrangement offered by the plans, but they increased at different rates. Plans that allow enrollees to go to any provider had the largest increase in single premiums during this period (25.9%) and had the highest annual single premium of the three groups ($2,581 in 1999). Plans that require enrollees to use an exclusive set of in-plan providers had the smallest overall increase (13.6%) and had the lowest annual single premium of the three groups ($2,171 in 1999). Plans that provide a list of preferred providers but allow enrollees to go to providers outside the plan (at a higher cost) had premium increases for single coverage that were in between those for exclusive-provider plans and any-provider plans. Over the 4-year period, single premiums for mixed-provider plans increased 16.9%. The annual
