Dive Brief:
- While projections have abounded for 2017 insurance rates, Oregon regulators have released the anticipated final numbers for individual plans in the state.
- The finalized rates are "mostly unchanged" from the rate requests released to the public in June, reported The Bulletin.
- For Central Oregon, the average premium increases on individual plans will range from 9.8% to 32%.
Dive Insight:
As is the case around the U.S., Oregon's rates required increases for multiple reasons impacting the insurance market, the state's insurance commissioner said: The rising cost of care and prescription drugs; the end of reinsurance programs that helped protect insurers during the first years of the ACA; and a continued need to adjust policies that turned out to be underpriced in light of higher than predicted medical costs.
Around the U.S., premiums for the ACA's most popular silver plans are expected to rise faster in 2017 than previously, at an average of 10-11%, though analysts note the real numbers will vary substantially by region.
Oregon’s health insurers lost a combined $217 million in 2015 after losing a far lower $36 million in 2014, The Bulletin reported.
Among Oregon's final 2017 rates, one was raised from its preliminary request, with Atrio going from a 15% average increase to 20.8%. Some, meanwhile, were lowered, such as Moda’s 32.3% request going down to a final 29.2%.
Aside from higher rates, Oregon will see a drop in the number of individual policy choices for 2017, The Bulletin added, noting just three carriers will sell individual plans in central Oregon via the state marketplace and two will sell individual plans outside the marketplace. That compares to nine carriers that offered plans in central Oregon for 2016.