Medical insurance firms just lately submitted a surprising double digit medical insurance charge hike request to the Connecticut Insurance coverage Division (CID) for administrative approval. These proposals averaged greater than 20 p.c for particular person and small enterprise medical insurance plans that begin in 2023.
These proposed charge will increase are staggering and infuriating. We’d like actual legislative motion and market options. Households and hard-working small companies are already being crushed by historic inflation, COVID impacted challenges, tax will increase, and residing in a state they love however is rising extra unaffordable by the day. General affordability is a disaster in our state and this crushing medical insurance charge enhance will exponentially add to that.
The Inexpensive Care Act promised inexpensive, accessible, high quality well being care for everybody. Right here we’re a decade later and that promise has not been fulfilled. Much more troubling is that the price of well being care insurance coverage has skyrocketed to unaffordable ranges.
This yr, Senate Republicans as soon as once more proposed a plan to rein in out-of-control well being care prices. Entry Well being CT’s personal estimates present our plan reduces premiums by $6,475 per yr, or $540 per 30 days for the typical household. However the main Democrat on the legislative Insurance coverage Committee refused to even maintain a vote on that plan. They outright admit to blocking this plan for inexpensive well being care. The identical Democratic lawmakers who say they’re outraged right now additionally stated there was no want for state motion earlier this yr due to federal subsidies. Now the subsidies are going away, and households and small companies are about to endure due to that inaction.
I need to spotlight the submitting abstract for ConnectiCare Advantages plans, “The expanded subsidies underneath the American Rescue Plan Act put in place in 2021 are anticipated to go away in 2023. There can be much less particular person shoppers who can be certified for Federal Advance Premium Tax Credit (APTC). We count on members to depart the person ACA market who had been beforehand insured, and people members are prone to be more healthy than the inhabitants who will keep within the particular person ACA market. In consequence, we count on the typical morbidity of the only danger pool to go up and subsequently result in an unfavorable affect on 2023 charges.”
Oxford Well being Insurance coverage submitting abstract attributed rising prices partially to “Price shifting from the general public sector to the non-public sector — Reimbursements from the Heart for Medicare and Medicaid Providers (CMS) to hospitals don’t typically cowl all the price of care. The associated fee distinction is being shifted to non-public well being plans. Hospitals usually make up this reimbursement shortfall by charging non-public well being plans extra.”
We completely want accessible public hearings for individuals impacted to voice their struggles and problem these unaffordable charge will increase. We’d like transparency and accountability from insurance coverage firms and the CID to the general public who can be burdened by these extreme value will increase.
At the moment, the CID assessment course of is held at its division workplace with restricted entry and know-how to accommodate public testimony and participation. It’s a procedural strategy of reviewing the deserves of every respective proposal, affording no alternative to problem and query the veracity of the request.
Senate Republican Chief Kevin Kelly and I just lately wrote to CID Commissioner Andrew Mais requesting the listening to be held on the State Capitol and to supply in-person and digital entry to residents and companies. We known as for a listening to to permit for change of transparency and accountability and we had been joined by CT Healthcare Advocate Ted Doolittle (who shared our frustration and in addition questioned the justification of those staggering proposed charge will increase).
Commissioner Mais has agreed to carry the general public listening to on the State Capitol. We predict the listening to to happen in early August. The listening to may also be considered on CT-N on-line, over the CID’s Fb web page, or by dialing right into a phone convention line. Anybody wishing to submit and share their testimony can e mail
[email protected]
[email protected]
(I’ll personally ship your testimony to CID). E mail request can also be wanted for many who want to signal as much as testify in-person remotely through MS Staff video hyperlink.
State Sen. Tony Hwang is the Republican Committee chief on the Insurance coverage and Actual Property Committee and the Public Well being Committee and represents the twenty eighth Senate District, which at present consists of the cities of Easton, Fairfield, Newtown, Weston and Westport.