Lawmakers Aim To Preserve Health Care Cost Ratio

March 14--Under the Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare, insurers can charge a 64-year-old no more than three times what it charges a 21-year-old.

But under an Obamacare replacement proposal, the allowed ratio would increase to 5-to-1, which is causing concern, especially among seniors who could face increased insurance costs.

"To change the ratio from three-to-one to five-to-one would be a disaster for Connecticut's seniors," said Rep. Sean Scanlon, co-chairman of the insurance committee.

The proposed replacement, however, allows states to set rules on how much insurers can charge customers of different ages. Wednesday, the insurance committee will vote on a proposal to do just that.

Under the current setup, a 21-year-old in Hartford County would pay $199 a month for a high-deductible bronze policy. A 64-year-old would pay $596.

The Obamacare replacement would lower the payment for the younger policy holder to $152 a month, but increase it for the older one to $759.

While Scanlon acknowledges that changing the ratio lowers premiums for younger customers, older customers are the ones more likely to need health care.

Scanlon, a Democrat who represents Guilford and Branford, said: "My constituents are coming to me and saying, 'My premiums are going to go up if this bill goes forward. What can you do about that?'"

Scanlon said he doesn't know if the bill will get bipartisan support. He said he'd spoken to Insurance Commissioner Katharine Wade ahead of the bill's introduction on Wednesday. She declined to speak to a reporter about the department's advice on the bill. She had a spokeswoman issue a statement that said because the department hasn't seen the bill's language "it would be premature to comment."

The costs are expected to rise, according to the Congressional Budget Office, which projects premiums will jump 15 to 25 percent in 2018 because fewer healthy people will buy policies without a mandate to do so.

ConnectiCare currently covers about two-thirds of the state's roughly 111,000 Obamacare customers. ConnectiCare President Eric Galvin agreed getting rid of the mandate to buy insurance will make the market's problems worse.

Keeping the age rating stable, according to the CBO, would protect people over 60 from an increase of about $4,000 a year in costs.

Even if Connecticut preserves the current age ratio, individuals who earn less than about $47,000 a year will pay far more under an Obamacare replacement. The bill proposed by House Republicans would no longer offer an annual credit that grows as premiums go up in order to keep costs steady for customers. Instead, there would be a flat, age-based credit -- worth $4,900 a year for those 60 and up.

Galvin declined to comment Tuesday on the bill in the legislature, instead saying the company is "watching carefully to see if Congress and the state of Connecticut can strike the right balance of plan components, like mandates and access guarantees, in order to keep premiums affordable."

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