Insurers quiet on joining in 2018
Today is the deadline for providers to file plans.
Facing a Monday deadline to file proposed 2018 plans with the state, major Colorado health insurers won’t say whether they expect to raise premiums next year or even if they will participate in the state’s health insurance exchange.
The answers — which may not be known publicly until July, when Colorado insurance regulators release the plans for public review — have major significance for the approximately 120,000 people who shop for health insurance in the individual market. And they also will add to the contentious debate over the stability of the Affordable Care Act and the impacts of its proposed Republican-backed successor plan.
In response to questions from The Denver Post, only one of the largest insurers — Kaiser Permanente — definitively said it expects to sell plans in 2018 through Connect for Health Colorado, the online insurance marketplace where people who buy
health insurance on their own can shop for coverage that meets the standards of current federal law.
Two other major insurers, Anthem and Cigna, responded more cryptically and stopped short of committing to the exchange.
In an email, Cigna spokesman Jim Angstadt wrote, “Ultimately, our participation in individual markets is contingent on market conditions and regulatory approval.”
Anthem spokesman Tony Felts wrote in an email this month, “While we are pleased that some steps are being taken to address the sustainability of the marketplace, the individual market remains volatile. We will continue to maintain active dialogue with state leaders and regulators as the filing deadline nears.”
Neither spokesman replied to follow-up questions.
About half of Coloradans receive health insurance through their jobs, and an additional third are covered by Medicare or Medicaid. Meanwhile, the individual market — which covers about 6 percent of the state’s residents — represents the wild edge of the health insurance world. Its plans are more subject to price swings than employer-sponsored coverage. And, as debate grows about whether the Affordable Care Act — also known as Obamacare — is sustainable, these fluctuations in prices act like a public heart monitor in arguments about the law’s health.
The 2018 plans likely will continue the trend.
Republicans, including U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner of Colorado, have pointed to carrier withdrawals from state exchanges and rising premiums as evidence of a “collapsing” Affordable Care Act. Democrats say that the GOP is trying to sabotage Obamacare by planning to end enforcement of the requirement that all Americans have health insurance and creating uncertainty about whether the federal government will pay for costsharing subsidies that are intended to stabilize the market. The subsidies help low-income consumers pay for deductibles and are separate from the betterknown tax credits that help people pay premiums.
A national survey of insurers released last week by the health care consulting firm Oliver Wyman pointed the finger squarely at the GOP’s ongoing health reform efforts for creating volatility in the 2018 individual market.
The survey found that 94 percent of insurers currently selling plans on the exchanges expect to stay in the market for 2018. But 42 percent of health insurers say they would pull out of the state exchanges if the cost-sharing subsidies aren’t funded, while the remaining 58 percent would seek large premium increases to cover the deficit.
Nearly half of insurers surveyed nationally said they expected to request premium increases of 20 percent or more for 2018, but the Oliver Wyman report notes that, prior to the GOP’s reform efforts, most had expected much lower increases for 2018.
“Given the survey responses, it appears that the overall uncertainty of the market is impacting payers’ 2018 planning,” the report’s authors wrote.
Colorado officials have said they’ve heard from no insurers planning in 2018 to drop out of Connect for Health Colorado. There are currently seven insurers offering plans on the exchange, although some of those operate in only a handful of counties.
The Denver Post reached out to all seven carriers. Colorado Choice Health Plans and Rocky Mountain Health Plans did not respond to questions.
A spokeswoman for Denver Health Medical Plan said the insurer, which sells coverage on the exchange under the Elevate Health Plans banner, expects to continue on the exchange in 2018, with “minimal” premium increases. A spokeswoman for Bright Health said only that the insurer is “committed to serving our members.”
After insurers on Monday submit their proposed plans to the state Division of Insurance, regulators will review the plans before releasing them to the public July 14. The plans will be open for public comment until August. The deadline for the state to approve the plans is in the fall.