Covered California beneficiaries will see an average 4% rise in premiums for the 2016 enrollment season, according to a brochure the state released describing preliminary rates for its individual market next year. This average rate increase is lower than last year’s 4.2%, and according to Covered California, will mean either a decrease or modest increase of less than 5% in health insurance premiums for beneficiaries using the state’s public exchange.

The rate increases vary by county, with a 7% average weighted increase for the northern counties and a 1.8% increase for southern counties. Covered California boasted that its 1.3 million users are a “good risk mix,” meaning its enrollees are on average healthier than in other parts of the country, giving Covered California the negotiating power to keep average premium rises low.

Covered California in its press release attributed this modest increase to the fact that it is an “active purchaser,” meaning the exchange chooses which plans participate and negotiates the rates and networks.

The exchange’s addition of two new participants — UnitedHealthcare and Oscar Health Insurance — increases competition, and almost all areas of the state will have three or insurers offering plans, according to Covered California’s brochure explaining the 2016 rates.

The table shows the average rates from 2015, from AIS’s Health Insurance Exchange Database: 2015 Plans and Premiums database.

To download Covered California’s brochure on the rate increase, click here.

To view Covered California’s press release, click here.

© 2015 by Atlantic Information Services, Inc.