Virginia Exchange Premiums Could Rise By 20% Next Year

Health insurance plans on the Affordable Care Act's individual and small group markets in Virginia could cost an average of 20 percent more in 2018, according to initial rate filings with the state's Bureau of Insurance.

While the rates must be further reviewed by the bureau before they become final, the filings show that almost all insurers offering plans on the exchange expect premiums to increase.

Last year, premium rates on the exchange increased by an average of about 16 percent.

"All these increases equate out to tremendously large premiums, which we thought were large last year," said Del. Kathy Byron, R-Bedford, during a Health Insurance Reform Commission meeting Tuesday.

"So if nothing happens with any reforms or changes in Washington, these are pretty dramatic premium increases that people are going to be facing."

Some plan premiums on the individual market could go see prices nearly triple. Others expect increases as low as 1.7 percent and as high as 20.4 percent.

Only two filings showed a decrease in premium costs over last year: Group Hospitalization and Medical Services, Inc., and Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of the Mid-Atlantic States, which are both selling plans in the small business health options program, or SHOP exchange.

But in addition to higher premiums, Virginia residents will also see sparser options in the ACA marketplace next year.

Four fewer insurers are offering plans on the individual exchange compared to last year, while two have exited the small group exchange.

Two of the biggest insurers in the country, UnitedHealthcare and Aetna, pulled out of the individual exchanges.

No new issuers have filed intentions to offer plans on Virginia's exchange, either. Last year, Aetna and Cigna both decided to participate in Virginia's ACA market for the first time.

Premium increases nationwide remain unclear as Virginia, Maryland and Connecticut are among the first states to have rate filing deadlines so far this year.

According to the 2016 Employer Health Benefits Survey compiled by the Kaiser Family Foundation, premiums for employer-sponsored health insurance have not experienced such high rate increases.

The average premium for a family plan rose by 3 percent between 2015 and 2016, while there was virtually no increase in the premium for single coverage.

Uncertainty over the future of the ACA - as a Republican-controlled Congress makes moves to repeal it - has added more instability to the health law's markets, according to health analysts.

The American Health Care Act that was recently passed by the House of Representatives removes the individual mandate requiring everyone in the country to have health insurance, which could mean healthier people might pull out of the markets, driving costs up.