United States health insurance companies are increasing premiums by an average of 20 percent for those between the ages of 18 and 64 who purchase their own medical plans, according to a recent nonprofit health care group’s study.   The rate hikes affected over three-quarters of the 14 million individuals who purchase their own health insurance plans.

The discovery comes as the Obama administration cooperates with health insurers to execute a few of the new regulations under the recently enacted health care reform law.   To read more, Click Here.

While individual, or nongroup, plans represent only a small portion of the medical insurance industry, they have drawn intense scrutiny lately after reports of rate hikes as high as 39 percent.

Although the majority of working-age Americans who have health insurance receive it through employers, about 14 million Americans-typically owners of small businesses or those whose employers do not offer health coverage-purchase their own plans.

Several health insurance companies have already started enacting some reforms before the law takes effect, like eliminating lifetime limits on coverage and ending cancellations when a policyholder becomes ill.

However, other reforms, like safeguards for people with preexisting medical conditions, do not take effect until 2014-a gap of more than three years.