Some Obamacare Plan Costs Rise 25 Percent, Says U.S. Government

Premiums for Affordable Care Act's midlevel health plans will increase by 25 percent on average in 2017, while some states have fewer insurance companies that offer coverage, the U.S. government said October 24.

But the Obama administration insisted that three-fourths of customers can still find plans for less than $100 monthly using federal subsidies, according to New York Times.

The open enrollment period under Affordable Care Act also known as Obamacare starts on November 1, but consumers were able to get their first look at their options last October 24. Consumers who failed to get insurance next year might be penalized by $700 per person or higher.

The rising cost and dwindling options of healthcare has been a huge part of political conversation in the last days of the election season. Both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump promised to make huge adjustments to this healthcare law.

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) emphasized that, with tax credits, more than 70 percent of consumers will pay less than $75 monthly, according to USA Today.

"This is a big increase in an environment where health care cost growth is generally modest and incomes aren't growing much at all," Larry Levitt, senior vice president at the Kaiser Family Foundation said. "The increase is largely a reflection of insurers catching up to the fact that the number of sick people signing up for insurance is bigger than expected."

Consumers will be able to choose 30 plans on average, and there are 10 plans available for sale for the average insurer. Most people with insurance provided by employers have far fewer options as compared with those shopping on the federal exchange.

HHS announced earlier that approximately 2.5 million people qualified for tax credits are missing out, because they are acquiring their plans via insurers or brokers rather than the state and federal exchanges. The Kaiser Family Foundation said that about 5 million uninsured people could get financial assistance to cover their insurance expenditures.