Some state health insurers ask for substantial individual market rate increases next year
The rates impact the roughly 4 percent of Washingtonians who buy individual health insurance coverage through the Washington Health Plan Benefit Exchange, and have to be approved by the
The 2019 filings are the first sign of how federal changes to the individual mandate -- a requirement that people either buy insurance or pay a penalty -- will impact local rates. A provision in the tax bill that President
The largest request was an average 29.8 percent premium increase from
Most insurers requested smaller premium increases, from 0.89 percent for
Kaiser's large request skews the average because it is the largest insurer on the individual exchange, said
Kaiser reported losing
If the increase is approved, Kaiser's Flex Silver insurance plan would cost
Molina requested an average increase of 10.7 percent. The insurer has 25,131 individual plan customers in
Fourteen
Marquis said the requests for individual market increases are not necessarily reflective of larger trends in the health insurance market. Company filings report losses on individual market plans only, so they're not a good predictor of any premium increases for employer-provided plans, which cover far more people in
"Some companies, they'll lose money on the individual market and make money everywhere else," Marquis said.
Most Washingtonians who buy insurance on the health exchange receive subsidies that offset some of the premium cost. Those subsidies are tied to the cost of silver plans, and will increase when rates increase.
Washington Health Benefit Exchange CEO
"The plan filings do reflect an ongoing trend of market volatility that places unnecessary financial stress on
Insurance commissioner
"I'm relieved to see lower rate requests than we expected by most insurers and coverage in every county, but any increase will be hard for consumers to bear," Kreidler said. "We're committed to working on solutions that improve affordability and consumer choice and will review these filings very carefully."
Rep.
"Those attempting to dishonestly blame these increases on recent policy changes need only look at the history of rate increases since Obamacare was enacted. These rate increases aren't new, we've been seeing them for years now," said
Individual health premiums on
Congressional candidate
"For two years Republican congressional leadership has decided to defer to the president making his own changes to health care. This inaction has resulted in two straight years of increased plan and prescription drug prices for eastern
Individual insurance plans for 2019 will be certified by the state health exchange in September, with approved premiums released publicly shortly after.
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