Arkansas Insurance Commissioner Allen Kerr says he expects to deny several recent requests by insurers to raise rates on individual on-exchange health insurance policies by more than 10 percent for 2017.
Under the Affordable Care Act, requests for rate increases above 10 percent are subject to approval of the Arkansas Insurance Department.
“At this time, with the information we have on hand, including historical patterns, Governor Hutchinson and I do not believe there is substantive justification for these rate increases. For that reason, we expect to take action to deny the requested rate increases until there is sufficient justification to properly consider any rate increase,” Kerr said in a statement released by his office.
Under the terms of ACA, insurance companies have to justify rate increases that exceed 10 percent to the state they operate in. Rate requests exceeding 10 percent must also be disclosed publicly.
For 2017, the individual on-exchange requests exceeding 10 percent in Arkansas are:
| QualChoice Life and Health | 23.69% |
| QCA Health Plan Inc. | 23.78% |
| AR Blue Cross & Blue Shield (MSP) | 14.70% |
| AR Blue Cross & Blue Shield (Local) | 14.70% |
One other insurance company participating in the Arkansas marketplace, Celtic Insurance (Ambetter), has submitted a rate increase request below the 10 percent automatic-reporting threshold.
The Arkansas Insurance Department has until August 23 to grant approval of rates for qualified health plans for Plan Year 2017.
The Open Enrollment Period for PY 2017 will run from Nov. 1, 2016 through Jan. 31, 2017.
Source: AID
Topics Pricing Trends Arkansas
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