Those who buy their own health insurance in Maryland will pay an average of 6.6% more next year, about 4.4% less than the carriers requested, according to the Maryland Insurance Administration, which approved the increases.
State agency officials said in May when insurers asked for the increases that they expected coronavirus pandemic-related costs to push up the price of health insurance offered in Maryland by the three carriers under the Affordable Care Act, also called Obamacare.
Since then, rising inflation has become a factor, though the approved rate increases fall below the pace of inflation that averaged 8.4% this year, noted Kathleen A. Birrane, Maryland’s insurance commissioner.
增加的人会影响超过232,000人通过该州的健康交易所购买保险或直接从保险公司购买保险的人。他们中的大多数人没有为雇主提供保险。
The rolls grew in the past year through special enrollment periods aimed at reaching people who lost jobs and insurance during the pandemic. Medicaid, the federal-state health insurance program for low-income residents also grew, though the state is resuming checks to see whether people still qualify after a pause during the health emergency.
Under the approved increases, rates for a 40-year-old Baltimore area resident on the lowest cost silver plan would rise:
- Carefirst Bluecross Blueshield的HMO计划占3.8％，该计划覆盖了149,000多人。每月保费将上涨$ 12至335美元。
- Carefirst Bluecross BlueShield的PPO计划占13.3％，覆盖了近16,300。保费将上涨60至513美元。
- United Healthcare的HMO计划为4.5％，推高15至350美元。
- 2.7% for Kaiser Permanente’s HMO plan, pushing premiums up $7 to $268.
About 80% of people get federal subsidies to help cover the cost of those premiums. Those will continue to be enhanced under legislation recently passed by Congress through the Inflation Reduction Act.
That should help people continue with insurance they bought during the pandemic, in addition to other subsidies for young adults and other existing subsidies, said Michele Eberle, executive director of the Maryland Health Benefit Exchange.
[约翰·霍普金斯（Johns Hopkins）警告说，它可能与马里兰州最大的保险公司Carefirst分开]
“The past few years have proven that Marylanders recognize the importance of having health coverage,” she said in a statement. “Although health plan prices are increasing for some Marylanders, there are savings available. We are grateful that the Inflation Reduction Act keeps financial help in place for many people through 2025.”
The cost of plans had dropped for several years after a reinsurance program passed by the General Assembly in 2018 helped offset the costs associated with the most expensive beneficiaries. Birrane credited the program with preventing higher rate increases.
“The reinsurance program continues to do its job,” Birrane said in a statement.
“The 2023 rate changes are tied to increasing claim costs and projections as to what those costs are likely to be in 2023, given claim cost trends. Inflation, increased unit costs for services, increased utilization and the ongoing uncertainty of COVID-related costs, are all significant factors influencing rates,” she said. “Nonetheless, we have been able to keep rates below inflationary trends thanks to the reinsurance program.”
早晨的阳光
CareFirst officials noted in a statement that while the state’s reinsurance program has been a stabilizing force, there is still a need to find ways to reduce the underlying cost of health care.
“CareFirst looks forward to collaborating on future initiatives to advocate to reduce the cost of care and make healthcare more affordable,” it said in a statement.
凯撒官员在一份声明中说，2023年的评分反映了“长期为我们所有成员提供高质量的医疗保健和承保范围的预期费用。”
UnitedHealthcare didn’t respond to a request for comment.