New York Obamacare insurers want to raise prices for 2019 by an average 24 percent, with some plans seeking rate increases as high as nearly 40 percent.
The most common reason the state’s 14 insurers on Obamacare’s exchanges gave for the increases was the repeal of the individual mandate in the new tax law. That follows insurers in several other states that have cited the mandate repeal and other moves by the Trump administration for their proposed rate hikes.
“Insurers have attributed approximately half of their requested rate increases to the risks they see resulting from its repeal,” New York’s Department of Financial Services said Friday. “Without the federal action, the average requested rate increase would be 12.1 percent.”
Some plans would have increases of about 5 to 8 percent, and one plan would lower premiums by 3.2 percent. Other plans have proposed rate hikes of 31 percent and 38 percent.
The rates are proposals that need to be finalized. The state’s insurance regulator is expected to negotiate with the insurers over final prices, which will be revealed before Obamacare’s open enrollment begins in November. Obamacare’s exchanges are on the individual market, which is used by people who don’t get insurance through a job or the government.
New York’s Department of Finance said the individual mandate was a key component of Obamacare that “helped mitigate against dramatic price increases by ensuring healthier insurance pools.”
Maryland and Virginia have announced double-digit rate hike proposals, with insurers citing the repeal of the individual mandate that everyone have insurance.
