Attorney General William Tong at a press conference in July Credit: Hugh McQuaid / CTNewsJunkie
The Connecticut Department of Insurance will not comply with Attorney General William Tong’s request to postpone an Aug. 15 hearing to review rate hike requests from state health insurance providers, according to the state insurance commissioner.
“The CID will not delay the briefing as the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and carriers must have their rates in place by early September, so [Access Health Connecticut] can prepare for the open enrollment period that begins on 11/1/2022,” said Commissioner Andrew Mais.
Mais’ statement Tuesday denies Tong’s request to delay the hearing in case congressional action extends the soon-to-expire health care subsidies. Mais’ refusal to postpone the event was the latest blow in an ongoing dispute between the attorney general and the insurance regulatory agency, which began after several insurance providers filed sol· requests to increase their rates by an average of 20.4% for plans starting in 2023.
Although Tong has requested special hearings in which he could question insurance industry representatives under oath, the agency has opted to stay the course and continue with its plans to hold a standard informational hearing to review the sol· applications at the end of this month.
Tong reignited the issue this week with a letter to Mais, urging the commissioner to hold the hearing as Congress considers extending federal tax credits that expire in January. According to Tong, insurance providers cited expiring subsidies as part of their justification for double-digit fee requests.
“Extending the tax credit would be a game changer and can significantly reduce the need for a raise,” Tong wrote. “It would be a breach of our duty to consumers to proceed with a rate hearing based on what now appears to be bad guesswork. Should Congress, as expected, vote to expand the federal advance premium tax credits , the applications must be reviewed, reflecting substantial savings to consumers, before further action is taken.”
However, in his statement, Mais disputed Tong’s claim that the expiration of federal subsidies had significantly boosted requests to increase insurance rates.
“Despite suggestions to the contrary, CID did not ask healthcare providers to assume that the ARPA extension would expire on 1/1/23,” Mais said. “To the contrary, we had already asked each carrier to explain how they used the federal subsidy assumption in their 2023 premium data projection so that we have the information and flexibility to quickly address any changes.”
In a letter to TongMais said the planned informational hearing will provide members of the public and elected officials with the “perfect opportunity” to discuss both the proposed rate hikes and the potential impact of a federal extension of health care subsidy increases. .
But he seemed to chafe at any suggestion that his agency would not thoroughly review the requested rate hikes.
“There is nothing going on behind closed doors related to the Department’s ACA rate actuarial review process, which has been determined by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to be an effective rate review process “, he wrote in a letter to Tong. . “The Connecticut Department of Insurance is justly proud of its reputation as a world-class insurance regulator.”
The hearing is scheduled to be held at the Legislative Office Building in Hartford on Monday, Aug. 15, and will focus on plans offered both on and off the state’s health insurance exchange of CIGNA Health & Life, CTCare Inc., CTCare Benefits Inc., and ConnectiCare Insurance Company Inc.
Members of the public can participate both virtually and in person and can present a written testimony regarding proposals from Aetna, Anthem Health Plans and United Healthcare/Oxford.