Washington state insurance regulators approve average 13% premium hikes

The Washington State Office of the Insurance Commissioner approved an average 13.1 percent increase on health plans sold on the state's individual market — WAhealthplanfinder — next year.

The office approved requests on 46 plans from seven payers who will offer plans on the exchange, save for Portland, Ore.-based Regence Blueshield's 21 filed plans and BridgeSpan's 31 filed plans, with those rates still under review.

Requested rate increases for on-exchange individual plans ranged from Tacoma, Wash.-based Coordinated Care's average 6.3 percent increase to Mountlake Terrace, Wash.-based Premera Blue Cross's 24.8 percent increase.

To date, the seven insurers offering exchange-certified plans next year include Seattle-based Community Health Plan of Washington; Coordinated Care; Seattle-based Group Health Cooperative; Portland, Ore.-based Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of the Northwest; Seattle-based LifeWise Health Plan of Washington  Bothell, Wash.-based Molina Healthcare of Washington; and Premera Blue Cross.

A final premium rate change average will be provided next month following OIC review.   

More articles about payer issues:
Blue plans in California accused of exploiting drug prices to artificially boost premiums
Sharpening consumer outreach to expand health plans: Q&A with Phil Fiero, SVP of analytics at Welltok
Cigna taps 'McDreamy', other TV physicians for ad campaign


 

Copyright © 2024 Becker's Healthcare. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy. Cookie Policy. Linking and Reprinting Policy.

 

Top 40 articles from the past 6 months