BCBS wants 22.9% rate hike on ACA plans in 2018
Steep rate increases have been a consistent feature of
Cigna, which offers ACA plans in five counties in the Triangle, requested a 31.9 percent average rate increase Thursday.
The insurers filed their requests with the
Because 94 percent of
However,
On Wednesday the
"Many ACA customers will pay more for coverage that is already a large portion of their household income," said Brian Tajlili,
Speaking in a conference call with reporters, Tajlili said that ACA rates continue climbing in part because customers who sign up for federally subsidized health insurance are older and sicker than the general population. Around the country, some insurers have filed for even larger rate increases, including 52 percent in
Insurers are concerned that if the federal penalty to buy health insurance is not enforced next year, the result will be a concentration of sicker customers as healthy customers bow out.
"Some are expecting the market to deteriorate next year," said
By contrast, eight insurers who sell policies directly to individuals in
The 22.9 percent request
But the biggest cause is the looming elimination of "cost sharing reductions" in the Republican alternative to the ACA. These reductions offer additional subsidies on deductibles and other out-of-pocket costs to lower-income people whose household incomes are between 100 percent and 250 percent of the federal poverty level.
The reductions are available for a single customer with a household income ranging from
Under the ACA, insurers are required to offer coverage to lower-income people at steeply reduced prices, even if the federal government doesn't compensate the insurers as it has done in past years.
Tajlili noted that about 67 percent of the people
"The lack of funding requires us to provide coverage without receiving payment," he said. "The [federal] payments are designed to make the insurer whole."
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