Arkansas Works, policies sold on exchange affected

Insurance Commissioner Allen Kerr on Thursday approved requests by insurance companies that offer plans in the state on healthcare.gov to raise their rates by less than 5 percent next year.

The increases, which will take effect Jan. 1, were unchanged from the companies’ initial requests, which were announced by the Insurance Department earlier this month.

They include an average increase of 4.4 percent for Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans covering 186,510 people, and 4.6 percent for Centene plans covering 85,373 people.

Little Rock-based QualChoice Health Insurance will increase its rates by 1.5 percent for a group of plans covering 16,013 people and 1.06 percent for another set of plans covering 14,996 people.

“I am proud of the work of [the Insurance Department’s] Regulatory Health Link Division to efficiently and effectively review these rate requests that show stability in the Arkansas health insurance market,” Kerr said in a news release.

The increases will affect plans that people buy on their own, rather than through an employer, and those subsidized by Medicaid under the Arkansas Works program.

Arkansas Works covers people who became eligible for Medicaid under the expansion of that program in 2014.

The expansion extended eligibility to adults with incomes of up to 138 percent of the poverty level. This year, for instance, the income cutoff is $16,753 for an individual or $34,638 for a family of four.

The federal waiver authorizing Arkansas Works limits the cost of the subsidized coverage based on monthly, per-enrollee caps. The cap is set to rise 4.7 percent next year — just above the increases approved by Kerr for the two insurance companies with the largest numbers of customers.

Many people who don’t qualify for Arkansas Works or other government health programs and who have incomes of less than 400 percent of the poverty level can qualify for subsidies to help them buy the coverage through healthcare.gov.

Last month, more than 235,000 people were covered by Arkansas Works plans. Meanwhile, 54,376 people were in non-Medicaid plans offered through healthcare. gov as of Aug. 15.

The annual open enrollment period for plans offered on healthcare.gov starts Nov. 1 and runs through Dec. 15. People eligible for Arkansas Works can sign up throughout the year but can change plans only during the open enrollment period.

This year, the rates for the plans increased by double-digits because of President Donald Trump’s decision to eliminate a subsidy that had reimbursed insurance companies for providing enhanced coverage to low-income consumers enrolled in so-called silver-level plans.

The companies raised the premiums for those plans to compensate for the loss of the subsidies, known as costsharing reduction payments.