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May 14, 2014 at 01:16 PM
Actuaries wonder whether a new batch of 2015 Washington state health insurance rate filings can give them any clues about what rates will look like in the rest of the country.
Carriers in the state have filed 28 individual and small-group rate applications. Issuers of the 23 plans already in the market — either inside or outside the public health insurance exchange — are asking for an average of about 8 percent.
The proposed average changes range from a decrease of 11.9 percent, for plans sold by Regence BlueShield, to an increase of 26 percent, for plans sold by Assurant’s Time Insurance unit.
Both companies are now charging an average of about $300 in premiums per month for the policies affected by the proposed 2015 changes.
The returning plans in the middle of the pack are asking to increase rates about 3 percent to 5 percent.
Insurers note in the filings that they have no 2014 experience data for plans that comply fully with the new Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act underwriting, pricing and benefits rules.
In a section on “projection factors,” actuaries for Time have given a detailed explanation of why they think the morbidity of the insured Washington state population has increased by 5 percent this year and will increase another 5 percent in 2015.
