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Topic Started: May 23 2015, 12:54 PM (104 Views)
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George K
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May 23 2015, 12:54 PM
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http://finance.yahoo.com/news/health-insurers-seek-hefty-rate-213400612.html
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Health insurers seek hefty rate boosts
Major insurers in some states are proposing hefty rate boosts for plans sold under the federal health law, setting the stage for an intense debate this summer over the law’s impact.
In New Mexico, market leader Health Care Service Corp. is asking for an average jump of 51.6% in premiums for 2016. The biggest insurer in Tennessee, BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee, has requested an average 36.3% increase. In Maryland, market leader CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield wants to raise rates 30.4% across its products. Moda Health, the largest insurer on the Oregon health exchange, seeks an average boost of around 25%.
All of them cite high medical costs incurred by people newly enrolled under the Affordable Care Act.
Under that law, insurers file proposed rates to their local regulator and, in most cases, to the federal government. Some states have begun making the filings public, as they prepare to review the requests in coming weeks. The federal government is due to release its rate filings in early June.
Insurance regulators in many states can force carriers to scale back requests they can’t justify. The Obama administration can ask insurers seeking increases of 10% or more to explain themselves, but cannot force them to cut rates. Rates will become final by the fall.
“After state and consumer rate review, final rates often decrease significantly,” said Aaron Albright, a spokesman for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the federal agency overseeing the health law.
Consumer groups are demanding federal and state officials put premiums requests under the microscope this year.
“We are really wanting to see very vigorous scrutiny,” said Cheryl Fish-Parcham, director of the private insurance program at Families USA, a group that advocates for the health law. Her group wants regulators and the public to debate insurers’ assumptions about rates and look for ways they could save money.
Insurers say their proposed rates reflect the revenue they need to pay claims, now that they have had time to analyze their experience with the law’s requirement that they offer the same rates to everyone—regardless of medical history.
Health-cost growth has slowed to historic lows in recent years, a fact consumer groups are expected to bring up during rate-review debates. Insurers say they face significant pent-up demand for health care from the newly enrolled, including for expensive drugs.
“This year, health plans have a full year of claims data to understand the health needs of the [health insurance] exchange population, and these enrollees are generally older and often managing multiple chronic conditions,” said Clare Krusing, a spokeswoman for America’s Health Insurance Plans, an industry group. “Premiums reflect the rising cost of providing care to individuals and families, and the explosion in prescription and specialty drug prices is a significant factor.” ... In some of the dozen states where The Wall Street Journal reviewed filings that are public, the biggest insurers are seeking significant but less eye-popping increases. Anthem Inc., in Virginia, wants an average increase of 13.2%. Blue Care Network, part of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, applied for a 10% average increase.
In Washington state and Vermont, the market leaders have sought relatively modest average increases, akin to those proposed last year, of 9.6% and 8.4%, respectively. In Indiana and Connecticut, the leading plans want 3.8% and 2% boosts. So far, Maine is the only state where the market leader proposed keeping rates generally flat. ... Tennessee Insurance Commissioner Julie Mix McPeak said she would be “surprised if we settled on 36.3%” as requested for the Blue plans’ average rate increase, but a significant boost might be allowed. She said data her team examined reflected big medical-claim costs.
CareFirst said its monthly claims per member nearly doubled to $391 in 2014 from $197 the year before. Its monthly premium for a 40-year-old nonsmoker in Annapolis with a silver plan would rise to $306 in 2016 from $244.
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Luke's Dad
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May 23 2015, 01:51 PM
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Ultimately, the brunt of this is going to be born by those with employer provided plans. The law states they can't have more than a 15% annual increase o the exchanges without special approval, and there's not a chance the administration is going to allow that steep an increase on their huge achievement. I am probably going to buy on the exchange this fall and drop my employer insurance in the spring.
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The problem with having an open mind is that people keep trying to put things in it.
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Aqua Letifer
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May 23 2015, 01:52 PM
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I am absolutely doing that.
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I cite irreconcilable differences.
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Jolly
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May 23 2015, 03:05 PM
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The plan is working...
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The main obstacle to a stable and just world order is the United States.- George Soros
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Copper
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May 23 2015, 04:01 PM
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- Luke's Dad
- May 23 2015, 01:51 PM
The law states they can't have more than a 15% annual increase o the exchanges without special approval, and there's not a chance the administration is going to allow that steep an increase on their huge achievement.
I believe they can stop offering a plan.
And offer a new plan at a shiny new price.
A name change is probably enough.
I'm using a plan from the exchange. It's basically just buying an individual plan from an insurance company. There's no fed involvement that I can see, except to spam you with lots of junk email.
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The Confederate soldier was peculiar in that he was ever ready to fight, but never ready to submit to the routine duty and discipline of the camp or the march. The soldiers were determined to be soldiers after their own notions, and do their duty, for the love of it, as they thought best. Carlton McCarthy
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