CTlimitshealth-insurance rate hikes for exchange plans [Journal Inquirer, Manchester, Conn.]

Sep. 8--The state's actions to cut rate hikes comes after a blistering attack on health insurers by lawmakers, patient advocates and Attorney General William Tong at a public hearing last month.

Executives from Anthem, Cigna and ConnectiCare were pilloried for putting profits ahead of affordability after they proposed average premium hikes of 20.4 percent for 2024 policies on the health-insurance exchange.

Tong gave some credit to state insurance regulators on Friday for pushing back on the rate increases.

"The Connecticut Insurance Department was right to cut these demands, and, for the first time, to introduce affordability as a line of questioning in their review process this year," Tong said in a statement. "Insurers sought bloated rates based on vague, unsupported assumptions contradicting nationally-supported data."

But the approved rates are still too high and are "deeply unaffordable," Tong said. "Insurers right now have little to no incentive to hold down healthcare costs or premiums, and Connecticut families and small businesses are getting crushed."

Tong was among state officials who argued that the proposed new rates were out of reach for many of the 188,000 people currently covered by insurers participating in the exchange.

Health insurers defended the proposed rate hikes by citing rising medical and drug costs, fueled by factors including surging hospital prices and wider use of expensive new medications like obesity drugs.

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Insurance Commissioner Andrew Mais echoed the insurers' concerns in announcing the higher rates, citing annual increases of 7 to 9 percent in medical costs and 11 to 19 percent increases in drug costs.

"These increases are primarily driven by higher healthcare utilization and greater disease severity, which lead to advanced-stage treatments and an overall increase in healthcare spending," Mais said.

State regulators reviewed 10 filings by nine companies when calculating the new rates, which hold the insurers' profits to 0.75 percent, according to the insurance department announcement. Scaling back the rate increases saved customers $96.2 million, according to Mais.

The new rates affect those who get coverage under plans compliant with the Affordable Care Act -- also known as Obamacare -- both on and off Connecticut's Access CT exchange. Open enrollment for the 2024 coverage year starts Nov. 1.

About 84 percent of the 101,285 people enrolled through the Access CT exchange in 2022 got some financial help to pay for their health coverage, including subsidies offered under the American Rescue Plan Act.

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