Side Effects: Premium Hikes for Arizona State Employees, Courtesy of Obamacare

Kathryn Nix / July 29, 2010

Arizona v. President Obama. This time it’s not about immigration but health care. A recent letter from the Arizona Department of Administration to 135,000 state employees informed them that, depending on their type of coverage, they can expect their monthly health insurance costs to jump by as much as 37 percent. The letter cites the President’s health care overhaul as “responsible for all increases for employee premiums.”

The Department points to two provisions of Obamacare as the primary reason for the premium increases: a new requirement for plans to cover children as dependents until age 26 and a ban on lifetime coverage limits. Both of these changes sounded popular during the health care debate. However, as citizens, like the Arizona state employees, begin to see the associated premium hikes go into effect, the highly unpopular new law will not likely gain more support. (more…)