Rhode Island Health Insurers Request Double-Digit Rate Hikes For Large Employers
May 17--PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Health insurance companies are requesting double-digit rate hikes for large employers in 2018.
The rate requests released Wednesday by the Office of the Health Insurance Commissioner range from 9.8 percent from Tufts Health Plan HMO to 11.9 percent from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Rhode Island. The rate requests apply to people who work for companies with 51 or more employees that purchase group coverage and pay monthly premiums. The large-group market in Rhode Island covered about 123,000 people as of 2016, according to the commissioner's office.
The 2018 rate increase requests are as follows:
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Rhode Island: 11.9%
United HealthCare: 10.3%
Tufts Health Plan HMO: 9.8%
Tufts Health Plan PPO: 10.4%
The rates represent the average expected change in premiums from 2017 across all employers whose policies are up for renewal.
"I'm disappointed in the proposed Large Group rate increases, Health Insurance Commissioner Kathleen C. Hittner said in a statement. "Businesses in the state cannot sustain escalating health care expenses at this rate. I have instructed my staff to critically evaluate every detail and assumption behind the proposed rates."
The commission also will provide an opportunity for public comment this summer, she said, once the individual and small group market rate requests are filed.
Blue Cross said its 2018 rate request reflects its analysis of medical trends in both utilization and cost. The increase also includes a 2.2 percent fee that Blue Cross says it expects insurers to have to pay under the Affordable Care Act. Congress temporarily suspended the fee in 2017.
"BCBSRI will continue to actively collaborate and invest across the complex healthcare system to address the drivers of rising costs," a statement released by Gail L. Carvelli, a Blue Cross spokeswoman, said. "And, our efforts will remain focused on the 'triple aim' of better health for our state, a simpler patient experience and lower costs."
United Health did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Rate filings for the small-group market, which covers about 60,000 people, and the individual market, which covers about 47,000 people, are due June 16.
The large-group rate requests may change somewhat as actuaries at the commissioner's office examine the submissions. The commission is expected to release details about what's driving the rates and trend data by mid-July. The rate requests will be open for public comment in early July, with a final review targeted for Aug. 1, once the individual and small group market rate requests are filed.
The state health insurance commissioner can approve, reject or modify the rate requests.
The rate increases approved for 2017 ranged from 4.2 percent for Tufts Health Plan PPO to 7 percent for Blue Cross.
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