Many Americans have noticed that the cost of healthcare in the country has been on the rise for over a decade now. New health insurance regulations put in place by both state governments and the U.S. government has dramatically changed health insurance costs. Plans that were once fairly affordable or provided by employers are changing. Some employers have stopped providing health insurance to their employees because of the high cost of doing so; others have simply cut back their contribution. Although it's still possible to get affordable health insurance plans through various resources, the new regulations are still making their mark on the health insurance industry. There are three specific health insurance regulations that have changed health insurance costs significantly.

Many of the regulations are now being mandated by the U.S. government under the Affordable Care Act that began rolling out in 2010 and will complete implementation by 2015. One of the regulations that many states began adopting but that will required of all states by 2015 refers to pre-existing conditions. This new regulation prohibits insurance providers from denying coverage due to pre-existing conditions or other health issues. Many providers do not like to take those with pre-existing conditions on because they are in a high risk group. However, now that they are prohibited from denying coverage, health insurance costs have to be increased in order to compensate for guaranteed use of benefits and health insurance claims.

Although the Affordable Care Act will still allow for private health insurance companies to continue operating, new regulations will change the industry. By 2014, Affordable Insurance Exchanges will be made available, giving people and small businesses more options when they shop for and buy health insurance. The new exchange will promote more competition but may drive up costs for some providers while lowering the costs for other providers. This may actually be good news for individual consumers who want to get plans for themselves or their family, since they have more options in the type of insurance they can obtain.

Free preventative care is also a regulation that the administration will implement through the Affordable Care Act. This will require all physicians to provide free preventative care to patients regardless of the type of health insurance plan or health insurance provider they have. The affect this has on health insurance costs is still questionable, but it seems like they may drop costs for consumers since that burden is lifted off of the providers and placed on physicians.

Many more regulations have been implemented and will continue to do so, changing the costs for health insurance. Keep an eye out for new changes and monitor the affects they have on costs.