Uncertainty in Washington driving up health insurance rates, insurers say

July 18--Two Maryland health insurance companies defended hefty rate increases they were seeking for insurance plans offered on the state's exchange under Obamacare in part by citing the uncertainty in Washington over the law's future.

Representatives of both Evergreen Health and Kaiser Health Plan of the Mid-Atlantic testified Monday before the Maryland Insurance Administration, which must decide whether to accept or adjust the requested rate increases before the next enrollment period begins this fall. The administration already held a hearing on a large increase being sought by CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield, the state's dominant insurer.

"The uncertainty continues as Congress contemplates changes," said Elliott Hooper, senior general counsel for Evergreen, which plans to return to the market after a year off to convert to a for-profit insurer. "The rules for the market need to be known."

A Republican-drafted House bill passed in May but a vote on a Senate bill was postponed for lack of support. Four Republican senators also recently announced their opposition to the current bill.

As Congress debates overhauling the law, consumers and their advocates want to know why insurers are seeking such large increases.

"To whom it may concern," wrote a healthy 28-year-old Baltimore man to Maryland insurance regulators about his premiums that could rise more than 30 percent, "is this a joke?"

Insurers say they have lost millions of dollars on Affordable Care Act plans because consumers have been sicker than expected and a program designed to offset costs was eliminated.

Insurance company officials said they rely on assumptions about costs, from administration to patient claims to the number of enrollees in specific plans.

Yet, they said they don't even know if the government will continue to require Americans to sign up, and high costs may mean fewer people do so. The so-called "individual mandate" has been a Republican target, and a bane to some consumers, since it was first included in the 2010 health law as a means of balancing sick people in the insurance pool with healthier ones.

"Our filing assumes at a minimum the public perception of the mandate is that it will not be enforced." said Jill Van Den Bos, a consulting actuary for Evergreen.

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