Why the County You Live in Will Affect Your Health Insurance Rates
Carly Getz
| 1 min read
If you're purchasing the same health insurance plan with the same benefits but you live in a different county, you should pay the same price… right? Not necessary. Health care costs differ depending on where you are, and those differences will be reflected in the pricing of plans on the Health Insurance Marketplace. In the past, individual health insurers defined their own regions and how they reflect the underlying cost of care. Now, the State of Michigan has come out with a standardized set of geographic rating factors. Different counties have been assigned to specific geographic rating regions that every carrier has to use. These rating regions are intended to compensate for different costs due to factors like overall unhealthier populations, hospital competition, and the way health care is delivered and culturally utilized. The breakdown of Michigan’s geographic rating regions can be seen below:
For more information on health care reform, visit HealthCareReformBasics.com or HealthCare.gov. Photo Credit: Kate Ter Haar
