The state Insurance Department said the proposed average individual rate request is a 7.8 percent increase, compared to 12.3 percent in 2019, and the range is from -9.8 percent to 25.7 percent.
The proposed average small group rate request is an 11.98 percent increase, compared to 10.22 percent in 2019 and the range of proposals is from -12.4 percent to 28.5 percent.
“The Connecticut Insurance Department has received 14 rate filings from 10 health insurers for plans that will be marketed in the individual and small group market, both on and off the state-sponsored exchange, Access Health CT,” a statement from Insurance Commissioner Andrew Mais said. “Without the approximately 3 percentage point increase resulting from the recently reinstated federally mandated health insurer tax, the proposed increases are lower than last year’s. In addition to the federal tax, ongoing rising cost of health care is a key driver of health insurance premium rate increase requests.”
Insurance carriers have attributed the proposed increases to rising health care costs, including the cost of prescription drugs, and the increased demand for medical services, according to the Insurance Department.
“Regardless of the uncertainties surrounding the legal challenges to the Affordable Care Act, health plans licensed by the DOI cannot apply pre-existing conditions and must include all of the Essential Health Benefits,” the statement from Mais says.
