State Health Care Premium Announcements

[MichaelB]

Announcements for 2016 price increases are starting to come out so it might be useful to have a thread for that purpose.

Alaska Rate increases approved for individual health care market - Baltimore Sun

Alaska's Division of Insurance has approved average rate increases for next year of nearly 40 percent for the two companies providing individual health insurance plans through the federally run online marketplace.

Massachusetts Health insurance rates rise 6 percent for small employers - The Boston Globe

Health insurers in Massachusetts will boost rates more than 6 percent for small businesses and individuals in 2016, a troubling sign that costs are once again accelerating.

Iowa Wellmark, Coventry double-digit rate increases approved

Iowa's chief insurance regulator has approved
double-digit premium rate increases affecting thousands of Iowans.

Washington

SEATTLE — People who buy their health insurance on the Washington http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle...ce-rates-to-go-up-42-percent/Healthplanfinder exchange can expect an average 4.2 percent increase in their rates in 2016.

We can post here as more announcements are made.
http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/washington-health-insurance-rates-to-go-up-42-percent/

 

[MichaelB]

From another thread, Florida http://www.floir.com/siteDocuments/IndividualPPACAMarketMonthlyPremiumsforPlanYear2016.pdf
and Florida health insurance exchange / marketplace: Obamacare enrollment

Ultimately, the weighted average approved rate increase in the individual market in Florida came out to 9.5 percent for 2016. For plans in the exchange, rate changes for 2016 vary from a decrease of 9.7 percent (Florida Health Care Plan, Inc.) to an increase of 16.4 percent (UnitedHealthcare of Florida, Inc.).

 

[pb4uski]

BCBS Vermont's 2016 premium increases range from 0.5% to 11.5% depending on plan, and 5.9% on average (from a proposed 8.6%).

Luckily, my plan is only increasing 0.5% in 2016.

 

[jim584672]

New York

Press Release - July 31, 2015: New York State Department of Financial Services Announces 2016 Health Insurance Premium Rates, Including Rates for NY State of Health

Individual Market

On average, insurers requested a 10.4 percent rate increase in the individual market. DFS reduced the average increase more than 30 percent, to 7.1 percent, which is below the average increase in health care costs of approximately 8 percent. Around one-half of the rate increase is due to reductions in a federal reinsurance program.

New Yorkers with incomes up to 400 percent of the federal poverty level ($47,080 for individuals and $97,000 for a family of four) are eligible to receive financial assistance to reduce premiums through the NY State of Health.

Starting on January 1, 2016, New York will add a new Essential Plan to the plans that can be purchased by lower income New Yorkers through NY State of Health. Households at or below 150 percent of the federal poverty level ($17,655 for a household of one; $36,375 for a household of four) will have no monthly premium for the Essential Plan. Those with slightly higher incomes at 200 percent of the federal poverty level ($23,540 for a household of one; $48,500 for a household of four) will have a low monthly premium of $20 for each adult.

The Essential Plan will provide the same covered services as other plans offered on the Marketplace. The Essential Plan has no annual deductible and lower copayments, making health care even more affordable for hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers. For example, a person who earns about $20,000 a year and uses moderate health care services including an inpatient hospital stay, prescription drugs and doctor’s visits, will pay about $730 a year for premiums and out-of-pocket costs under the Essential Plan in 2016 as compared to about $1,830 in 2015 if they were enrolled in a Qualified Health Plan.

 

[MBSC]

Michigan: Michigan agency: Health insurance to rise 6.5% in 2016

Michigan consumers will pay an average 6.5 percent more for health insurance in 2016, which is less than the rate hike they paid during the past year, state officials said Tuesday.

Kansas: Kansas Insurance Commissioner Reduces Proposed Obamacare Rate Increases | KCUR

In May, Kansas insurance companies requested rate increases of up to 39 percent for individual market policies to be sold through the healthcare.gov marketplace during the next open enrollment period, which begins Nov. 1 and ends Jan. 31, 2016.
But Selzer, a Republican serving his first term, said rate reviews conducted by the department reduced the proposed increases to an average range of 9.4 percent to 25.4 percent.
A single average increase wasn’t calculated, said Bob Hanson, a spokesperson for the department.

 

[Tadpole]

Well this must mean the stockholders are losing quarter over quarter increases and need to recoup some loses.

 

[Sue J]

I haven't had a chance to play with this yet but Value Penguin is showing 2016 Preview rates for some states -

Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) Health Insurance Exchanges

Click on your state if it's checked. Use the dropdown to change to the 2016 preview. There will be options for counties, etc.

Up at the top there is a filter for metal level.

 

[hnzw_rui]

I haven't had a chance to play with this yet but Value Penguin is showing 2016 Preview rates for some states -

Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) Health Insurance Exchanges

Click on your state if it's checked. Use the dropdown to change to the 2016 preview. There will be options for counties, etc.

Up at the top there is a filter for metal level.

Los Angeles county doesn't show up in CA and for the life of me, I can't find the zip code dropdown mentioned in the comments. Help?

 

[Sue J]

Looking at my local options in the 2016 preview, it looks like this is not completely updated with all the new info. The names of the plans are from previous years (example - it says a plan is called Individual 6350, but I have that plan for 2015 and it's called Individual 6450. $6350 was the MOOP limit in 2014 and for 2015 the MOOP limit was $6450).

We had a similar discussion about previews of plans last year and I remember that this site had better and more complete info as we got closer to the time to enroll.

 

[brewer12345]

Colorado's insurance department indicates on its website that approvals and public disclosure thereof will happen in September.

 

[pb4uski]

Well this must mean the stockholders are losing quarter over quarter increases and need to recoup some loses.

Not sure what you mean by this. Also, medical loss ratios constrain what a health insurer can charge and take as profit.

 

[rodi]

Here are CA's announcements.
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CB4QFjAAahUKEwihzNS7nNHHAhXGL4gKHWGzBqc&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.coveredca.com%2FPDFs%2F7-27-CoveredCA-2016PlanRates-prelim.pdf&ei=tS7jVeGdD8bfoATh5pq4Cg&usg=AFQjCNEPfa4rSv6ockVNkZ6Zw67mai67GQ&sig2=7kLoWVkqe48HdRnvwFK0OQ (pdf)

and

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CCEQFjABahUKEwihzNS7nNHHAhXGL4gKHWGzBqc&url=http%3A%2F%2Fnews.coveredca.com%2F2015%2F07%2Fcovered-california-holds-rate-increases_27.html&ei=tS7jVeGdD8bfoATh5pq4Cg&usg=AFQjCNH9pSjZ1zdvVhs74F9bTxgkmoTZ4g&sig2=IXtHQCIxogy327HT_AVc8w

Basically - it went up just a smidge in SoCal - but close to 10% in NorCal. Glad I live in So. Cal. It appears, that I might actually have lower rates since Kaiser's bronze HSA plans in SoCal, in theory, went down in price.

 

[scrabbler1]

New York

Press Release - July 31, 2015: New York State Department of Financial Services Announces 2016 Health Insurance Premium Rates, Including Rates for NY State of Health

Individual Market

On average, insurers requested a 10.4 percent rate increase in the individual market. DFS reduced the average increase more than 30 percent, to 7.1 percent, which is below the average increase in health care costs of approximately 8 percent. Around one-half of the rate increase is due to reductions in a federal reinsurance program.

New Yorkers with incomes up to 400 percent of the federal poverty level ($47,080 for individuals and $97,000 for a family of four) are eligible to receive financial assistance to reduce premiums through the NY State of Health.

Starting on January 1, 2016, New York will add a new Essential Plan to the plans that can be purchased by lower income New Yorkers through NY State of Health. Households at or below 150 percent of the federal poverty level ($17,655 for a household of one; $36,375 for a household of four) will have no monthly premium for the Essential Plan. Those with slightly higher incomes at 200 percent of the federal poverty level ($23,540 for a household of one; $48,500 for a household of four) will have a low monthly premium of $20 for each adult.

The Essential Plan will provide the same covered services as other plans offered on the Marketplace. The Essential Plan has no annual deductible and lower copayments, making health care even more affordable for hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers. For example, a person who earns about $20,000 a year and uses moderate health care services including an inpatient hospital stay, prescription drugs and doctor’s visits, will pay about $730 a year for premiums and out-of-pocket costs under the Essential Plan in 2016 as compared to about $1,830 in 2015 if they were enrolled in a Qualified Health Plan.

Thanks for the link, Jim. I knew from a letter Empire BCBS sent me recently that they had requested a +14.5% rate increase. Last year, they requested a similar increase but it was cut back to about 7%. This time, though, it was cut back only to 13%. I had already planned to find another insurance company because BCBS's drug plan was not very good. (I was recently diagnosed with diabetes so I am taking insulin and other drugs, some of which are not well covered by BCBS.) Thank goodness pre-existing conditions is a thing of the past or else I could not change insurance companies easily.

 

[MBSC]

TN: Narrow networks: 2 women travel different paths

Cigna asked for, and received from the state of Tennessee, the lowest average rate request for 2016. It secured a 0.4 percent average rate increase — low compared with BCBST’s 36.3 percent increase — because it is changing two of its products on the exchange toward narrow networks. Cigna offered access to all hospitals in the region in 2015, so its plans will change considerably as it implements exclusive provider organizations, or EPOs.

There is likely to be more narrow networks on the exchange as insurers grapple with how to handle costs of medical claims. Insurers can't control who buys plans, but a narrow network allows them a way to understand fixed costs, which is what they pay to providers.

OR: GoLocalPDX | Oregon’s Biggest Insurance Companies Hike Rates Up to 37 Percent

In 2016, the state’s two biggest health insurance providers, Moda Health Plan and Lifewise Health Plan, will increase rates between 24 and 37 percent.....The highest increases, however, will be for Pacific Source members, of which there are only 2,164 on the exchange. Pacific Source will raise rates by 50 percent....In contrast, Providence has 15,820 members and will increase rates between 4 and 17 percent depending on age and the level of coverage. Kaiser Foundation, which only has about 6,000 members enrolled through healthcare.gov, is raising premiums by 10 percent across the board. While all of Regence BlueCross BlueShield’s members were enrolled off the market, the company does offer plans through the health care exchange market and is only increasing plans by 8 percent.....The reality is that Oregon had some of the lowest premiums in the country in 2015—ninth lowest in the country.

CT: State Trims Most Insurers' Proposed Rate Hikes - Hartford Courant

Overall, the approved average rate changes range from ConnectiCare Benefits' 1.3 percent decrease to a 21.7 percent increase for UnitedHealthcare plans sold outside the state's health insurance exchange. Those figures are averages; specific plans sold by each carrier could have higher or lower rate changes.

ID: Health insurance companies finalize higher rates in Idaho - Beaumont Enterprise

Blue Cross of Idaho Health Service has the most rate hikes, averaging out to be 23 percent higher than in 2015. Company officials say the increase is needed after losing millions of dollars because current customer premiums are not keeping up with claims paid.
Last year, the company's average rate increase for individual policies was about 15 percent. However, that same year, the company paid nearly $221.1 million in claims while only receiving $188.7 in customer premiums.
Meanwhile, Montana Health Cooperative —an insurance provider based in Montana that also offers plans for Idaho residents— has finalized a 26 percent rate increase for plans in the Gem State. SelectHealth plans will see an average hike of nearly 15 percent. Plans with Regence BlueShield of Idaho will go up on average 10 percent, while BridgeSpan Health Company will go up roughly 7 percent.
Idaho Department of Insurance Director Dean Cameron says he did not find any proposed rate changes to be unreasonable.

 

[MichaelB]

I was just looking at Health Sherpa and noticed the the BCBS prices are 20% higher than what BCBS shows on their website for current 2015. Could that mean their 2016 price is another 20%, on top of the 28% they increased this year? Whew. A 63 year old would have to pay 3 times more than the 65 year old on Medicare.

 

[MBSC]

GA: http://www.northwestgeorgianews.com...cle_4cd1fc62-5ba4-11e5-8ee7-e34afc3eda6e.html

Insurance rates approved recently by Georgia Insurance Commissioner Ralph Hudgens range from hikes of 27 percent and 29 percent for Alliant Health Plans’ individual policyholders to slight decreases for a few plans....Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Georgia lowered its rate from a 12 percent proposal to 8.6 percent for one plan, and cut the rate for another plan from a 3.1 percent hike to a decrease of 0.2 percent. UnitedHealthcare reduced the increase for one of its plans from 18.6 percent to 13.2 percent.

MD: MIA approves premiums, increases for health plans in 2016 | IFAwebnews.com

CareFirst, the state’s largest health insurer was approved for premium increases of between 19% and 26%, with an average increase of 26% for individual plans. The health insurer had sought increases as high as 30.4%.

Note: The link above includes a chart of the other Maryland insurance companies.

NE: http://journalstar.com/business/loc...cle_86178126-cffa-5a41-8dd0-9cdf0d1a1e7f.html

A range of 15 BCBSNE rates are going up an average of 14.8 percent, according to the Department of Insurance posting. Coventry's average was almost 22 percent. Two other insurers, Medica and UnitedHealthcare of the Midlands, one of the nation's biggest, also posted rates but with no comparisons to last year, because they weren't in the Nebraska marketplace under the Affordable Care Act then.

NV: Nevadans to see premium increases in 2016 health insurance rates | Las Vegas Review-Journal

For small businesses and their employees, premiums will rise an average of 5 percent, the division said.

Consumers who buy a plan through the state's Nevada Health Link insurance exchange will see an average premium gain of 8.7 percent. Individual buyers off of the exchange will pay 9.6 percent more on average. Four insurers — UnitedHealth Group, Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield, Prominence and Humana -- will offer plans on the state exchange.

 

[MBSC]

NY: http://www.modernhealthcare.com/art...ks-co-op-largest-in-the-nation-will-shut-down

Health Republic Insurance of New York will close up shop by year-end. Health Republic is the largest not-for-profit co-op in the country with approximately 200,000 members as of this past spring, or roughly one-fifth of all people enrolled in a co-op health plan.

Health Republic was losing money after it attracted some of the sickest and costliest members in its market. Records show Health Republic lost about $53 million in the first half of this year, compared with almost $78 million in losses in the first half of 2014.

Health Republic was raising its 2016 individual premium rates by 14.4%, the most of any New York insurer. The company was hoping to break even by the end of this year or next, CEO Debra Friedman said in a June interview.