A new federal report says the Affordable Care Act is reducing costs and increasing access to healthcare in the First State.
The report from the US Department of Health and Human Services finds that the average insurance premium for families with employer-sponsored health plans grew just 3.4 percent in 2016. The rate of growth was more than double that (7.9 percent) between 2000 to 2010.
And while that's welcome news, the secretary of Delaware’s Department of Health and Social Services, Rita Landgraf, said the state can do more.
“If people are still feeling impacted by the increase of the premiums, copays and deductibles, that still remains an issue,” she said.
On the plus side, she said, more Delawareans have health insurance now than ever before. According to census data, 5.9 percent of Delawareans were uninsured in 2015, which is down from 9.7 percent in 2010.
And this summer the state implemented a law that should help the state cut health costs further. It allows Delaware health officials to monitor the costs of health procedures and isolate possible areas for cost savings.
So even though premiums are rising slower and more people have insurance, Landgraf said the state has a lot more work to be done.
