Obamacare Increases Costs of College Health Plans by as Much as 1,112%

Last March, I wrote a detailed piece on why Obamacare will dramatically increase the cost of insurance for young people. Yesterday, Louise Radnofsky of the Wall Street Journal reported that some colleges are dropping their student health plans for the new academic year, because the new law increases the cost of those plans by as much as 1,112 percent. And no, that’s not a typo.

Most college students are in the peak of health. Hence, covering their health care is usually a pretty easy thing to do. A number of colleges—particularly small, private liberal-arts institutions—offer their students what are called “limited-benefit” plans, which cover health expenses up to a defined cap, such as $10,000. Because expenses are capped, these plans are extremely inexpensive, with premiums ranging from $150-500 per year.

However, Obamacare prohibits capping insurance payouts, causing premiums to skyrocket. For 2013-2014, the law prohibits caps below $500,000 per year; after 2014, caps are banned entirely.