Insurers in more states have filed their rate increase requests, and so far the numbers range from “unsettling” to “OMFGYOUREKIDDINGME.”
Two weeks ago we took a brief look at Virginia and Oregon, two of the first states to make their insurers’ rate request hikes public. According to ACASignUps.net, insurers in Virginia and Oregon are requesting a weighted average rate hike of nearly 18% and 27%! For those hoping these early figures were anomalies, recent rate request publications from New York, Maine, Maryland, Florida, and Washington state prove otherwise.
New York: According to the New York State Department of Financial Services, insurers in New York are requesting hikes ranging from as low as 6.1% to as high as 89.1%, with a weighted average on the individual market of 17.3%. UnitedHealth, which only covers 2% of New York’s Obamacare enrollees, requested an increase of (and I hope you’re sitting down for this) 45.6%!
Maine: Individual market insurance companies in Maine are requesting premium price increases predominantly ranging from 14% to 24%, with the Maine Community Health Options co-op, which insures more than 80% of the state’s ACA policyholders, requesting a whopping 22.8% premium hike. National insurers Aetna and Anthem are requesting hikes of around 14%.
Maryland: Much of the same can be seen in Maryland, where the largest individual market insurer, CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield, is requesting a 12.4% hike on its HMO plan, and 16% increases on two other plans. Mind you, this is after CareFirst received a 26% increase in premiums for 2016. National insurer CIGNA is asking for nearly a 30% premium price hike, while Evergreen Health Cooperative is on the other end of the spectrum asking for just an 8.1% increase.
Florida: Based on data from Florida officials earlier this month, 15 health insurers are looking for an average premium increase of 17.7% in the Sunshine State, which is basically double what was approved by regulators last year.
Washington: Within my home state of Washington, 13 health insurers spanning 154 plans submitted average rate hike requests of 13.5%. These ranged from a low of 7.4% (Coordinated Care by Centene) to a high of 20% from Premera.
The closest thing to a bright spot is Vermont, where insurers are requesting rate hikes “merely” in excess of 8%.
That Means It’s Working™
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