Tag: rate increases

Huge health insurance increase could spur NJ property tax hikes, layoffs, local leaders warn

Posted on by Judith E. Ashton

Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy is under fire from local government leaders and some state lawmakers as municipalities and counties in New Jersey grapple with an unprecedented double-digit rate increase on premiums for state health benefit plans.

New Jersey’s State Health Benefits Commission in September voted 3-2 to approve rate hikes of more than 20% on health plans that cover more than 800,000 state and local government workers, including a 22.8% rate increase on premiums for local and county governments.

“We would have to turn off the lights in Pleasantville and lock the door if this increase goes through,” Pleasantville Mayor Judy Ward said Wednesday during a joint press conference with dozens of other mayors, county leaders, local government lobbyists and a handful of Democratic state lawmakers.

“We’re already an overburdened community,” Ward said. “I hope the governor and all those responsible will hear us and give us the relief that we need.”

The rate hike is expected to cost local governments in New Jersey more than $350 million, according to New Jersey Association of Counties Executive Director John Donnadio.

Newark Mayor Ras Baraka said the rate hikes are expected to cost his city about $24 million, “and that does not include all of the other expenses that are growing here in the city.”

“I think the insurance companies should take a hit as well,” Baraka said. “It is inhumane to ask us to pay this much money in the middle of what’s going on.”

The sharp increase in premiums is hitting local governments just as federal COVID relief funds are beginning to dry up and local leaders are confronting rising costs for a wide range of government services amid record-high inflation.

Many leaders on Wednesday expressed concerns about filling holes in local budgets, and they only have one source to

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Health insurance rates are going up for WNY small businesses and individuals | Business Local

Posted on by Judith E. Ashton

Premiums are going up for small group and individual health insurance across the state and in Western New York – but not by nearly as much as insurers had requested.

The state Department of Financial Services on Wednesday announced it had approved health insurers’ premium rate increases for 2023, with some tweaks. The state reduced insurers’ requested rates by 48% in the individual market and by 52% for small groups, collectively saving the more than 1.1 million New Yorkers enrolled in those plans a total of almost $800 million, the department estimated.

Here’s how that shakes out in Western New York:

  • The entity that includes Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield of Western New York had sought a 20.5% increase for individuals – 6,457 people enrolled in those plans – but the state accepted an increase of 12.8% instead. For small group plans, which cover employers with up to 100 workers, Highmark had requested a 15.3% increase, with the state approving an increase of 10.7%. Highmark has 74,726 members in its small group plan.
  • Meanwhile, Independent Health requested a 10.2% increase for individuals – 7,641 enrolled – and the state accepted an increase of 6.1%. On the small groups, of which Independent Health lists 26,217 members, the insurer requested a 15.9% increase, but the state approved a 12.9% jump.
  • Excellus Health Plan, which includes Univera Healthcare, had sought 14% increase for individuals – 26,562 enrolled – and the state accepted an increase of 10%. For small group plans, for which Excellus listed 154,316 members, the insurer wanted a 12.9% increase, but the state approved a 9.4% boost.

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The rate adjustments affect people who buy individual commercial health insurance and small employers with 100 or fewer full-time workers, together comprising a small slice of members for the

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Consumer alert: Health insurance gets pricier as people return to the doctor’s office after pandemic slowdown

Posted on by Judith E. Ashton

After putting off routine health care for much of the pandemic, Americans are now returning to doctors’ offices in big numbers — a trend that’s starting to show up in higher insurance rates across the country.

Health insurers in individual marketplaces across 13 states and Washington, DC, will raise rates an average of 10% next year, according to a review of rate filings by the Kaiser Family Foundation.

That’s a big increase after premiums remained virtually flat for several years during the pandemic as insurers seek to recoup costs for more people using their policies, combined with record-high inflation that’s driving up prices for virtually everything, including health care.

The rates review included Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Texas, Vermont and Washington.

“We’re at a point in the pandemic where people are using health care that they may have put off before,” said Larry Levitt, executive vice president for health policy with the Kaiser Family Foundation. “We have a double whammy right now of people using more care and inflation throughout the economy.”

In California, state officials announced Tuesday that rates would increase an average of 6% next year for the 1.7 million people who buy coverage through Covered California, the state-operated health insurance marketplace. That’s a big jump after years of record-low increases, when rate increases averaged about 1% in the past three years.

Increased use of health plans was the biggest reason for the increase, accounting for four percentage points, according to Jessica Altman, executive director of Covered California.

“That is really the consistent message that other states are seeing as well, and even more so than California,” Altman said.

About 14.5 million people bought individual health coverage through state marketplaces this year, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.

That’s a

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We can’t sustain health insurance hikes in CT

Posted on by Judith E. Ashton

Health insurance companies recently submitted a shocking double digit health insurance rate hike request to the Connecticut Insurance Department (CID) for administrative approval. These proposals averaged more than 20 percent for individual and small business health insurance plans that start in 2023.

These proposed rate increases are staggering and infuriating. We need real legislative action and market solutions. Families and hard-working small businesses are already being crushed by historic inflation, COVID impacted challenges, tax increases, and living in a state they love but is growing more unaffordable by the day. Overall affordability is a crisis in our state and this crushing health insurance rate increase will exponentially add to that.

The Affordable Care Act promised affordable, accessible, quality health care for everyone. Here we are a decade later and that promise has not been fulfilled. Even more troubling is that the cost of health care insurance has skyrocketed to unaffordable levels.


this year, Senate Republicans once again proposed a plan to rein in out-of-control health care costs. Access Health CT‘s own estimates show our plan reduces premiums by $6,475 per year, or $540 per month for the average family. But the leading Democrat on the legislature Insurance Committee refused to even hold a vote on that plan. They outright admit to blocking this plan for affordable health care. The same Democratic lawmakers who say they are outraged today also said there was no need for state action earlier this year because of federal subsidies. Now the subsidies are going away, and families and small businesses are about to suffer because of that inaction.

I want to highlight the filing summary for ConnectiCare Benefits plans, “The expanded subsidies under the American Rescue Plan Act put in place in 2021 are expected to go away in 2023. There will be

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Officials Call For Formal Hearings On Proposed Double Digit Health Insurance Rates

Posted on by Judith E. Ashton
Left to right: Rep. Sean Scanlon, Attorney General William Tong, Lynne Ide, policy director for the Universal Healthcare Foundation of Connecticut, and Healthcare Advocate Ted Doolittle Credits: Hugh McQuaid / CTNewsJunkie

Attorney General William Tong and a group of advocates and legislators called Wednesday for a public hearing to review insurance rate requests from nine health insurers who are seeking to raise the cost of health plans by an average of more than 20% next year.

The insurance companies, which sell plans both on and off Connecticut’s health exchange, collectively filed 13 requests with the Insurance Department last week for rate changes applying to plans on the individual and small group markets.

On average, insurers are seeking to raise individual rates 20.4%, a steep increase from the average of 8.6% insurers sought last year.

During a Hartford press conference, Tong called the requests unacceptable and asked the Insurance Department to host a hearing to allow him to cross-examine insurance carriers.

“We need to test what [insurers] are saying and understand what’s behind the numbers and put people under oath and ask them questions and really get to the bottom of this,” Tong said. “Yes, I want to litigate this question because the people of this state deserve nothing less than that.”

In a Wednesday statement, Insurance Commissioner Andrew Mais said the agency holds annual hearings on rate requests, which is expected to occur this year in early August.

“That hearing process will happen again this year, and the public is welcome to testify. The Department is fully committed to consumer protection and transparency which is why our hearings are all open to the public and broadcast over the public affairs of CT-N Network,” Mais said, adding that his department was still finalizing the date of the hearing.

“Working within

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Gallagher on what’s needed for correction in commercial auto insurance

Posted on by Judith E. Ashton

There was some brief respite in auto insurance during the COVID-19 pandemic. As explained in Gallagher’s Spring/Summer Insurance Market Report, claims in auto associated with pandemic shutdowns were down in 2020, with the biggest reduction in commercial auto.

Through Q1 of 2022, total miles driven was almost back to pre-pandemic levels, and claims in auto returned to more or less “normal” levels. But the current risk landscape is anything but standard for commercial auto carriers.

“On the liability side, we continue to see challenges around social inflation, which is leading to larger and catastrophic claims,” said Linton “B” Puckett, VP, market relations leader for Gallagher. The Gallagher Spring/Summer Insurance Market Report states that, in particular, large jury awards in commercial auto insurance (in excess of $10 million) are becoming increasing prevalent.

“As the courts have reopened post-COVID, we haven’t seen any signs of social inflation or the rise in large jury awards slowing down,” said Puckett. “This is particularly challenging for companies with large fleets.”

Read next: Nuclear jury verdicts here to stay in commercial auto

Today, there are also challenges around inflationary trends impacting loss costs, which will ultimately be felt through the premiums that carriers are charging. Supply chain disruptions and a labor shortage triggered by COVID have made it hard for automakers and repair shops to meet demand. Prices for both new and used vehicles have skyrocketed, driving up claims costs and auto insurance rates.

Companies with large fleets or poor loss history may experience more significant rate increases in the coming months, according to Gallagher. The brokerage also warned that carriers insuring large commercial fleets are looking to attach excess layers above $1 million.

So, despite a brief breathing period during the pandemic, the commercial auto market remains challenging. Puckett explained why: “I think the

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