ALBANY — It’s enough to make you sick!
Health insurers operating on New York’s Obamacare insurance exchange are seeking to boost rates next year by an average of 17.3% for individual policies, according to data released Wednesday by the state.
The proposed increases, which must still be approved by the state’s Department of Financial Services, range from 6.1% sought by MVP Health Plan Inc. and HealthNow New York Inc., to a whopping 89% requested by Crystal Run Health Plan LLC.
Rates for small group plans would also rise by an average of 12%, according to the data.
Insurance industry watchdogs cautioned that insurers typically request excessive hikes because they know regulators will cut them down.
“There’s a ‘Groundhog’s Day’ element to all of this,” said Blair Horner of the New York Public Interest Research Group. “I hear Sonny and Cher singing in the background.”
A year ago, insurers requested increases that averaged 10.4% for individual policies and saw premiums rise by only 7.1% after the state finished its review.
“Insurers typically come in with requests that are far in excess of what they get, so I don’t think the public should be alarmed at this point,” Horner said.
Insurers, however, argued higher rates were needed to cover the underlying cost of medical care in New York.
“Everyone focuses on the rates plans are requesting while the factors that drive premiums continue to go unchecked,” said Paul F. Macielak, president of the New York Health Plan Association, a trade group.
Macielak cited several additional factors that contributed to the hefty rate requests, including financial losses suffered by health plans after the state had lowered previous rate requests and the added costs of absorbing new patients that were previously covered by the failed Health Republic Insurance co-op which collapsed last year.
Richard Loconte, a spokesman for the state’s Department of Financial Services, said the agency will review the requests and publish the final rates in August.
“The rates that are requested and posted on our website are only proposed and very often are reduced when the final determinations are made,” Loconte noted.
