MD Health Insurance Exchange Rates Up Double-Digits for 2018
Maryland health insurance exchange rates for individual and group plans up by double-digits as payers brace for ACA 2018 open enrollment.
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By - Patients in Maryland looking for insurance in 2018 may have bigger bills than they bargained for. The health insurance exchange rates for individual and group plans in the state have risen by up to 58 percent as payers try to cope with uncertainty, payers reported.
These quotes are for individual and small group plans offered through the state’s Affordable Care Act exchanges.
In a year that has seen a number of insurers pull out of state exchanges, Maryland has remained competitive with five insurers in the individual marketplace and ten in the small group market.
“It’s important to remember that these rates are what companies have requested, and not necessarily what will be approved,” said Insurance Commissioner Al Redmer, Jr. “There will be a thorough review of all the filings. As in years past, we may require changes.”
As of the initial filling, payers were requesting individual plan rate increases for an average of 18 to 58 percent. Minimum increases ranged from 9 to 53 percent, with maximum rate increases ranging 36 to 90 percent.
Leading the pack with individual plan increases was Hospitalization and Medical Services (a CareFirst company)with an average 58.8 percent increase from 2017.
Payers on the state’s individual exchange include CareFirst Blue Choice, CareFirst of Maryland and Group Hospitalization and Medical Services, Cigna, Evergreen Health and Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of the Mid-Atlantic States.
For a 40-year-old non-smoker in the Baltimore metropolitan area who buys the lowest-cost silver plan (without any subsidies), the average monthly premium will be $359 to $714.
Small group rates fared slightly better with lower overall 2018 increases for an average of 3 to 17 percent.
One payer submitted a decrease. Kaiser had an average small group adjustment of -2.7 percent, and a minimum and maximum rate adjustment requested of -11 and 12 percent respectively.
Small group monthly premiums, using the same member sample as the individual plans, ran a low of $286 for an Optimum Choice (United HealthCare) and topped out at $429 a month for Aetna.
Any proposed rate changes to the small group market would take effect in the first quarter of 2018.
In Maryland, rates must be approved by the Insurance Commissioner before members can be charged by payers for the stated premiums.
Final decisions about rates for 2018 individual and small group products are expected by late summer.
