Sticker Shock: Insurers Lay Out Obamacare Rate Request Increases For The Coming Year
Under the health law, insurance companies are required to make public their plans for rate increases that exceed 10 percent. News outlets in New York, Montana, Minnesota and Missouri report on possible rate changes.
PBS NewsHour:
Should You Be Prepared For Health Care Sticker Shock?
If it feels like you are spending more for health care through higher deductibles or premiums, you may be right. Under the Affordable Care Act, insurers are required to post rate increases if they exceed 10 percent, and, in many cases, the price spikes for the coming year range from 20 percent to 85 percent. And another study shows people who are covered by their employers are also paying more through higher out-of-pocket costs that leave as many as 31 million people underinsured. (6/3)
The Associated Press:
Montana Health Insurers Ask For Double-Digit Rate Increase
Insurance companies in Montana are requesting double-digit rate increases next year for the health plans of more than 77,000 people covered through the online exchange created by President Barack Obama's health law. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Montana is asking state regulators to approve an average increase of about 22 percent over the rates approved in 2015 for its individual plans. PacificSource is asking for an average 32 percent increase. The Montana Health Cooperative is requesting an average 34 percent increase. (Volz, 6/3)
[Albany, N.Y.] Times Union:
N.Y. Health Insurers Seek Rate Hikes For 2016
Health insurance companies have made their requests to the state Department of Financial Services for premium rate increases for individual and small-group policies to be offered on and off the state-run online market in 2016. On average, insurers asked for a 13.5 percent increase in rates on individual policies in 2016, and a 14.3 percent increase in rates for small-group policies. (Hughes, 6/4)
Minnesota Public Radio:
Health Insurers Seek Higher Premiums In Minnesota
Eight health insurance companies in Minnesota are proposing double-digit increases in average premiums and some want to raise rates by more than 50 percent, according to the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. (Zdechlik, 6/3)
The Minneapolis Star-Tribune:
Some Minnesota Health Insurers Seek Large Premium Hikes
Health insurers are seeking large premium increases for 2016 in Minnesota, with average jumps of more than 50 percent proposed by one of the state’s largest health plans. The proposed rates were released by the federal government Wednesday, a few days after similar data for most other states prompted widespread talk about how medical costs are running higher than expected for many insurers. (6/3)
St. Louis Post-Dispatch:
Coventry Health Care Seeks Double-Digit Price Hike For Health Plans
Coventry Health Care is seeking approval for double-digit premium increases for its 2016 individual health plans, according to rate information made public Monday by the federal government. Insurance brokers had considered the health plans sold by the Maryland-based insurer to be among the cheapest with the most extensive provider networks available to Missouri consumers. But Coventry’s strategy appears to have caught up with it, and the insurer is now asking federal regulators to approve an average rate increase of 23 percent for plans sold in the St. Louis area. (Shapiro, 6//1)
