Health Insurers File Proposed Rates for 2017 DC Health Link

The District of Columbia Department of Insurance, Securities and Banking (DISB) said it has received 170 proposed health insurance plan rates for review from four major insurers in advance of the fourth year of open enrollment on DC Health Link, the District of Columbia’s health insurance marketplace.

These filings mark the beginning of DISB’s rate review process where department actuaries engage with the insurers to determine if the rates are reasonable by law and should be approved for sale in the District of Columbia.

DISB said that last year, the department successfully negotiated lower rates from all insurers offering plans to be sold through DC Health Link.

“DISB remains committed to ensuring the District’s health insurance rates continue to be among the best in the country in terms of cost and value,” said Commissioner Stephen C. Taylor.

“During the rate review process, we will work with our insurance companies to make sure the approved rates are reasonable for the benefits provided to our residents and small businesses,” Taylor said.

The same four major insurance companies as last year – Aetna, CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield, Kaiser Permanente and UnitedHealthcare – have proposed rates for individuals, families and small businesses for the 2017 plan year.

Overall 170 plans were filed, up from 162 last year. The small group plans increased from 136 to 152, while individual plans decreased from 26 to 18.

The proposed rates show a mix of increases and decreases from 2016.

For small group plans, CareFirst filed overall rate increases of 4.4 percent for HMO plans and no overall aggregate change in rates for the PPO plans. Kaiser small group rates show an overall 2 percent increase. Aetna filed for an overall increase of 5.4 percent for PPO plans and 11.0 percent for HMO plans. United proposed a 2.2 percent increase for PPO plans and a range of increases on the HMO plans of 2.2 to 11.4 percent for its small group plans.

For individuals, CareFirst reduced the number of plans from 15 to seven with an overall rate impact of 0.0 percent for PPO plans, and proposed a 13.3 percent increase for HMO plans. Kaiser made no changes to its individual portfolio and proposed plans with increases averaging 12 percent.

Topics Carriers