Here's What the Supreme Court Could Do to Insurance Premiums In Your State

More than 800,000 Floridians would see their monthly insurance premiums rise, from an average of around $70 to an average of around $350, or roughly a factor of five. More than 600,000 people in Texas, about 325,000 in North Carolina, and another 275,000 in Georgia would see insurance premiums soar by similar amounts.

Nationwide, more than 4 million people living in 37 states would be in situations like these. Most would have no way to pay the higher bills, forcing them to drop insurance coverage altogether. Their sudden absence would destabilize insurance markets in those states, giving carriers reason to raise premiums by additional amounts or to flee the states altogether—which would, in turn, lead more people to give up insurance.

The underlying premiums for all people buying insurance on their own in these states would rise by an average of 43 percent, while the number of Americans without insurance would eventually be 7 million higher than it would be otherwise.

The central issue is the federal government’s ability to distribute tax credits, which allow people buying coverage through Obamacare's new marketplaces to pay less than full price—in some cases, a lot less.

If the justices uphold the latest Obamacare lawsuit, here's the average increase in premiums for people who now receive tax credits. This is based on upon 2014 figures, which should be pretty similar to 2015.

The most extreme increase, by far, would be in Mississippi, where the average monthly premium would go from $23 to $438. That's an increase of almost two thousand percent. The likely reason is that Mississippi is a particularly low-income state, with many people who qualify for very large subsidies, deeply discounting the premiums they pay. The smallest increase would be in Arizona, where the average monthly premiums would go from $113 to $272, an increase of "just" 241 percent. The average increase in monthly premiums, across all states, would be from $82 to $346. That's a 422 percent hike. And, remember, projections show that most people now getting subsidies will not be able to pay the higher prices.

Dig deeper into your wallets, people.

Link:  http://www.newrepublic.com/article/120233/king-v-burwell-how-supreme-court-could-wreck-obamacare-states