Two of the Missouri’s four Obamacare insurers proposed raising prices for 2019, while another is decreasing its rates by nearly 10 percent.
Cigna is proposing an average rate hike of 7.3 percent and Healthy Alliance Life Insurance Company is proposing a 3.67 average hike, the state’s insurance regulator said Wednesday. But Celtic Insurance Company calls for lowering rates by an average 8.6 percent.
Also, new Obamacare insurer Medica is entering the market in 2019.
Cigna, which is calling for the highest rate spikes for 2019 in the state, pointed to moves by the Trump administration as a reason for the spike.
It said that the elimination of the financial penalties for the individual mandate starting in 2019 was a key concern. Another was the Trump administration’s push to expand access to plans that are cheaper than Obamacare plans but offer fewer benefits.
Cigna expressed fears that the new plans could force younger and healthier people to flee Obamacare’s marketplaces and cause the insurance risk pool to worsen.
The insurer pointed in regulatory filings to factors other than Trump administration actions necessitating higher prices, including a sicker risk pool and shrinking enrollment.
Healthy Alliance also pointed to instability in the marketplace in a regulatory filing explaining its proposed rate hikes.
Celtic Insurance said in its regulator documents that the moratorium on Obamacare’s health insurance tax led in part to the decrease.
The rates for insurers must still be finalized in the fall before the start of open enrollment.
Democrats and Obamacare allies are seizing on any premium hikes to criticize the administration’s health care policies. Democrats hope to blame the GOP for hikes as part of their 2018 midterm strategy.
