Small businesses urged to weigh in on proposed premium rates
The public comment period is now open for Marylanders as health insurance carriers consider a hike in premium rates to take place next year.
Proposed rates are for plans that comply with the Affordable Care Act for small businesses and individuals who buy their own coverage rather than getting it through an employer.
Six companies are considering these changes for individual plans. Companies are also eying possible rate changes for employer groups that renew in 2017.
In response, the National Federation of Independent Business (“NFIB”) is urging people to weigh in before the comment period ends on June 15. They argue that an increase in premium rates would be crushing for small businesses, possibly making them reluctant to hire more employees.
“We also want to make sure policy-makers, the ones that are decisions to approve the premium increases, that they’re hearing directly from the people that will directly be affected by it…the rate-payers, the mom and pop shops, the employees,” says Mike O’Halloran, NFIB state director for Delaware and Maryland, “We want to make sure to the decision makers hear from them directly.”
47ABC also spoke to Al Redmer, Jr., Maryland Insurance Commissioner. He tells us he believes the proposed increases for small business are fairly modest.
A public hearing for the proposed rates is scheduled for July 6th in Baltimore.
Proposed rate changes (individual):
• CareFirst BlueChoice Inc. – a 12.4 percent increase;
• CareFirst of Maryland Inc. and Group Hospitalization and Medical Services Inc. (GHMSI) (both CareFirst companies) – a 16 percent increase each;
• Cigna Health and Life Insurance Co. – a 29.8 percent increase;
• Evergreen Health Cooperative – an 8.1 percent increase; and
• Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of the Mid-Atlantic States – a 25 percent increase
Proposed rate changes (employer groups):
• Aetna Health Insurance Inc. – a 5.0 percent increase;
• Aetna Life Insurance Inc. – a 5.0 percent increase;
• CareFirst BlueChoice Inc. – a 3.9 percent increase;
• CareFirst of Maryland Inc. and GHMSI- a 7.4 percent increase;
• Evergreen Health Cooperative – a 3.7 percent increase;
• Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of the Mid-Atlantic States Inc. – a .3 percent increase;
• MAMSI Life and Health Insurance Co. (a UnitedHealthCare company) – a 0.1 percent reduction;
• United Healthcare Insurance Co. – a 0.1 percent reduction;
• UnitedHealthcare of the Mid-Atlantic – a 5.7 percent increase; and
• Optimum Choice (a UnitedHealthCare company) – a 0.1 percent reduction
For a direct link to the public comment section, click here.
