Premiums for Massachusetts small businesses and residents who buy insurance on their own are going up.

The average increase for Jan. 1 is 3.1 percent. But this is just the base rate. Your rates could be higher or lower, depending on how much you or your fellow employees have spent on health care this year.

Insurers say premiums are going up because residents are using more care. What’s known as “utilization” in the insurance world dropped during the recession, but appears to be creeping up again. Then, say insurers, there’s the cost of some expensive new drugs, such as Sovaldi to treat Hepatitis C; taxes related to the Affordable Care Act; and the expense of dealing with the Health Connector’s failed website.

Read the full WBUR article here