Obamacare rates are likely to drop next year
Tennesseans on who depend on federally assisted health insurance are likely to have more options and face cheaper prices next year, a reversal of a trend that has plagued the state since the enactment of the Affordable Care Act, known widely as Obamacare, four years ago.
The most dramatic gains will be felt in the city of Memphis, which may have three new options for Obamacare health insurance.
Knoxville has the potential to gain two new insurance options. Nashville may get one.
However, Tennessee’s largest insurance company, BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee, will remain the only option for Obamacare insurance many in rural areas of the state. And BlueCross will continue to not compete in the Obamacare marketplace in Nashville and Memphis, the state’s two largest cities.
The improving Obamacare outlook was announced Wednesday by the Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance, which recently approved 2019 marketplace rates requested by five insurance carriers – including two new companies, Bright Health and Celtic Insurance.
Department Commissioner Julie
Mix McPeak said the rate requests were “positive developments” for the state that has struggled with Obamacare. Two years ago, she described the marketplace as “very near collapse” due to lack of competition.
“Tennesseans will see competition that currently does not exist in many parts of the state, including in and around Chattanooga, Knoxville, and Memphis,” McPeak said Wednesday. “Additionally, for the first time in the ACA marketplace era, we have approved premium rate decreases from two longtime market participants.”
According to the state announcement, the proposed rates are:
❚ BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee – Requesting statewide coverage except for Memphis and Nashville with rates decreasing an average of 14.8 percent; premiums from $182.91 to $3,109.32.
❚ Bright Health – A newcomer offering coverage in Knoxville, Memphis and Nashville areas; premiums from $195.19 to $2,756.80.
❚ Celtic Insurance – Another newcomer offering coverage in the Chattanooga and Memphis areas; premiums from $294 to $2,028.
❚ Cigna – Requesting to continue coverage in Nashville, Memphis, and the tri-city area while expanding coverage to Knoxville and decreasing rates an average of 12.9 percent; premiums from $243 to $2,966.
❚ Oscar Health – Requesting continued coverage in Nashville with new coverage in Memphis and rates increasing an average of 7.2 percent to 10.84 percent; premiums from $196.19 to $2,345.20.
Although these insurance plans have been approved at the state level, they still must be reviewed by the federal government. To compete on the marketplace next year, each insurance company must ink a final agreement with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services by Sept. 25., according to the state announcement. Open enrollment for the marketplace begins on Nov. 1 and lasts through Dec. 15.
Tennessee’s Obamacare marketplace – from which 3.5 percent of Tennesseans get their health insurance – has boomeranged since its launch in 2015. The marketplace originally offered some of the lowest insurance rates in the nation, but insurance companies soon faced gigantic losses, then rates skyrocketed. Companies shrunk their coverage area or with withdrew from the marketplace entirely, leaving little to no competition for customers, especially in rural areas.