Health Connector members ditching sky-high premiums

Jan. 13--Tens of thousands of Health Connector members are switching their coverage during open enrollment, a massive shift sparked by huge increases to premiums on popular plans, state data shows.

"We came into Open Enrollment knowing many members would be inclined to shop because of changes to their premium. So far, more than 53,000 people, which is a quarter of our returning membership, have shopped and switched into new plans," said Louis Gutierrez, executive director of the Health Connector, in a statement.

Typically, only 3 to 7 percent of Health Connector users make the switch, according to Gutierrez, who added that he was "encouraged by this high level of activity."

Neighborhood Health Plan and Harvard Pilgrim registered the highest average premium increases at 24.7 percent and 47.1 percent, respectively, and in turn saw more people walk away from their plans, according to the data, which was released yesterday.

Meanwhile, the BMC HealthNet Plan and Tufts Direct -- which saw average premium increases at 1.4 percent and 2.6 percent, respectively -- recorded large gains in membership, the data shows.

"This reflects the fact that plans were going to see hikes in premiums, so they had better shop or they are going to be in for a rude awakening when they try to use their insurance again this coming year," said Joshua Archambault, a health care expert at the Pioneer Institute, a Boston-based public policy think tank. Archambault predicted there will be continued "disruption" in the health insurance industry -- particularly after President-elect Donald Trump takes office.

"Given the conversations in Washington, D.C., there will certainly be more changes," he said. "Whenever there is uncertainty in the insurance marketplace, insurers typically increase premiums because they just don't know what's going to happen."

Archambault said that Health Connector likely "felt pressure" to tell people to shop around for new plans because of changes in the market.

"If the premiums go up just a tiny bit next year, they probably wouldn't feel that pressure, but they would probably say publicly that they support shopping around," he said. "If they don't support it, they're going to get some angry phone calls."

New data also shows that 37,168 new members have enrolled in Health Connector coverage -- 9,000 more than this time last year. The Health Connector also reported that 87 percent of its 2016 membership renewed this year. All told, there are 238,207 members enrolled for January coverage.

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