On the Third Hand: Rate filings

Commentary April 14, 2016 at 10:44 AM
Share & Print

I've been trying to figure out what the heck is going to happen to commercal health insurance in 2017 by looking for early 2017 rate filings.

On the one hand, that's nosy, and it might interfere with health insurance company executives' natural inclination to cry quietly to themselves.

I've been on a ropes course (flimsy bridges in treetops) that was much too high and challenging for my skill level. I would not want detailed analyses of my minimal level of ability to handle a ropes course published the System for Electronic Rate and Form Filing (SERFF) for all to see.

On the other hand: No one other than me depends on my ability to complete a ropes course. Hundreds of millions of Americans are counting on health insurers to pay their medical bills in 2017. 

If that's not going to happen, we'd better find that out sooner rather than later.

On the third, what's wonderful is how many states are now using a consistent SERFF interface to present their 2017 rate filings.

The parameters of the system probably annoys some regulators.

No doubt some states had better rate filing posting systems either online or on the drawing board.

But I think this is a situation in which mediocre consistency is better than diverse excellence. At least, now, a member of the public can get an idea of what filings are out there by repeating a similar search over and over, rather having to turn into a daring rate filing system explorer to find any filing data at all.

See also:

 

Are you following us on Facebook?

NOT FOR REPRINT

© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.

Related Stories

Resource Center