Some health insurance companies are asking for big price health insurance premium rate increases next year and that has again riled critics of the federal health care law.
The numbers released last week came out of an Affordable Care Act requirement that insurance companies tell government regulators by June 1 if they’re requesting price hikes of more than 10 percent. But not all of the story is yet reported. Take, for example, Montana.
Some officials opposed to the law, like U.S. Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., decried the increases in a speech on the Senate floor. “Blue Cross Blue Shield, which is Montana’s largest insurer, is asking for an average increase of 23 percent for Montanans enrolled in individual plans,” he told colleagues last week.
While that sounds scary, it turns out that Blue Cross Blue Shield in Montana is actually asking for large price hikes on just two plans it wants to offer in the state. While it’s not yet public how many they’ll offer in 2016, they currently offer 50 plans.
Read the full report and listen to the NPR health news story here.
This story is part of a partnership that includes Montana Public Radio, NPR and Kaiser Health News.
Contact Steven G. Cosby, MHSA, Group Health Insurance Broker and Agent with Cosby Insurance Group, with questions or to request more information and to schedule a healthcare plan evaluation, savings analysis or group plan solution for your company.
