Massive Rate Hike On Health Exchange Plans Sought In CT, Lawmakers Furious

CONNECTICUT — Connecticut politicians and officials are demanding a public hearing after insurance companies proposed an average rate hike of more than 20 percent for individual healthcare plans sold on the state’s Affordable Care Act exchange.

State Attorney General William Tong called for a formal hearing under the Uniform Administrative Procedures Act where insurers would need to justify the rate requests and expert witnesses can be cross-examined. He called it unconscionable that insurers would ask for such high rate hikes in the current economic environment and in the middle of a pandemic.

“We're tired of what has been an incomplete and not robust process,” he said, adding that if the rates are justifiable, then insurers shouldn’t have a problem proving it.

The exact costs of plans on the exchange vary depending on whether an applicant qualifies for subsidies, deductible level and whether spouses or dependents are on the plan. AccessHealthCT provides a filtering tool where people can shop for plans.

Health Insurance Commissioner Andrew Mais said an informational hearing will occur in early August. The department will accept public testimony and be broadcast on the CT-N network. The information hearing process allows for greater public participation, he said in a statement. The department will closely examine rate filings and make sure they are consistent with state law.

Last year, rate increase requests in the individual market were reduced from an ask of 8.6 percent to 5.6 percent and in the group market from 12.9 percent to 6.7 percent.

Both Democratic and Republican legislators, as well as Tong said the informational hearing isn’t enough.

Republican Senate Republican Leader Kevin Kelly, Sen. Tony Hwang (Fairfield) and Sen. Paul Formica (East Lyme) called for a hearing at the capitol complex in order for it to be more accessible to the public. Kelly and Hwang blamed the high health insurance costs on Democratic policies.

“This year, Senate Republicans once again proposed a plan to rein in out-of-control health care costs,” Kelly and Hwang said in a statement. “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 leading Democrats on the state’s Insurance Committee refused to even hold a vote on that plan.”

See also: Popular CT Television Meteorologist Lands New National Job

• Police ID Man Critically Injured After Being Struck By Car After Interrupting Break-In

Sen. Matt Lesser (D-Middletown) who sits on the legislative Insurance Committee, said that Kelly filibustered a bill during the final night of the legislative session that would have provided relief to families and addressed potential rate increases.

Lesser also said that the state attorney general and state health insurance advocate should be allowed to question insurers under oath.

“They need to be at the table asking tough questions under oath of the carriers to explain themselves...I'll be honest, the answers they provided so far have been grossly inadequate,” Lesser said.

ConnectiCare Insurance Company filed for an average of a 25.2 percent rate increase for individual health plans it sells through the exchange. The plans cover nearly 8,800 people.

The company said in a filing that costs are rising, likely due to pent-up healthcare demand and increased disease burden due to COVID-19. The company also expects subsidies under the American Rescue Plan Act to expire in 2023, which will drive up costs as healthier members exit the exchange.

The main reason why health insurance premiums are high is that the underlying costs for healthcare are high, State Health Insurance Advocate Ted Doolittle said. Insurers haven’t been able to get the families a good deal for decades.

Other countries have a formal annual price justification system, he said. He urged the state Insurance Department to deem the premiums excessive since the underlying costs are excessive.

“Let's get to the providers, the hospitals, the pharmaceuticals, let's call them to account because that's what the families and small businesses around the state need and deserve,” he said.

The rate increase was a gut punch to the 206,000 people who get insurance through the exchange, said Rep. Sean Scanlon (D-Branford), former chair of the legislative Insurance Committee. He was raised by a single mother and small business owner, who almost never had health insurance because it was too expensive.

“Let's hear the answers as to why you can't rein in the cost that you said you would reign them,” he said. “But if they can't rein them in, it's up to us as government to act, and we will because we cannot afford this anymore.”