Connecticut insurance regulators will hold a public hearing Monday to review double-digit rate hikes requested by 2023 by health insurers participating in the state’s Obamacare exchange.
Some elected officials, including U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, have urged regulators to reject the hikes.
The state insurance commissioner would have to reject the hikes because the Inflation Reduction Act passed by Congress last week continues a federal subsidy for Obamacare health insurance premiums for three more years, Blumenthal said. And that negates the reason for the rate hikes.
“The insurance department should just say no! We’re not dumb. We’re not stupid. We know what you’re doing. On behalf of consumers we say no,” he said.
“They were betting that the Affordable Care Act would go away, and they’re wrong. Because Senator Blumenthal and Senator Murphy voted last week as part of the Inflation Reduction Act to extend support for the Affordable Care Act affordable,” said state Sen. Matt Lesser, co-chairman of the Insurance and Real Estate Committee.
Aetna, ConnectiCare, Oxford/UnitedHealthCare and Anthem have filed to raise the cost of individual health plans on Access Health CT, the state’s health insurance exchange, by an average of 20% next year.
The insurance department is expected to issue a decision in September.