Highmark Cites Losses In Premiums Hike

Nonprofit health insurer Highmark says the federal government will owe it money for a second consecutive year and that the tens of millions of dollars in unreimbursed losses are a reason it is seeking to raise premiums.

Highmark spokesman Leilyn Perri said this week that the insurer has lost more than $800 million to date under the Affordable Care Act. He declined to comment further because of the company's court case against the government.

Highmark leaders have said the nonprofit insurer is still owed about $223 million for 2014, and that loss and subsequent ones are a large part of why it is offering fewer plans on the federal marketplace and asking to raise individual premiums 48 percent for 2017.

President Barack Obama's health care law authorized the government to help insurers handle losses for three years, through the initial period of dramatic change.

Although it was expected to cover claims in full annually, a congressional spending bill later stipulated that it could pay out only as much as was collected. Highmark and some other insurers have gone to court to force payment, but their cases are still pending. Final amounts the program will pay this year have not been determined, but officials said they expect everything will go to the 2014 shortfall.

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