State Approves More RI Health Insurance Cost Increases, Hitting Businesses & Above Rate of Inflation
GoLocalProv News Team
State Approves More RI Health Insurance Cost Increases, Hitting Businesses & Above Rate of Inflation
The saying is that there are only three things in life that are certain — birth, death and taxes, but in Rhode Island, there appears to be a fourth — add "increases in healthcare costs."
Commercial health insurance premiums for 2024 have been approved by the State of Rhode Island’s Office of the Health Insurance Commissioner (OHIC) and the direction is up.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTThe highest rate increase is more than 10%.
Nearly all of the rate increases are above the rate of inflation.
“OHIC staff reviewed the benefit coverage documents for each health plan to ensure compliance with state and federal laws. The approved premiums are predominantly driven by the cost of health care—the increasing unit prices and use of health care goods and services,” said the state organization.
In addition to OHIC’s review, the Rhode Island Attorney General’s Office (RIAG) conducted an independent review of rate filings across all markets. The RIAG submitted comments and actuarial reports on each rate filing to OHIC. This year the RIAG’s consulting actuary provided tables in their reports showing a “range of reasonable 2024 rate changes” for each insurer.
Tables 1 – 3, below, summarize the approved rates for 2024 and the enrollment with each insurer, by market, as of March 2023. The rate change approved by OHIC is shown along with the range proposed by the RIAG’s consulting actuary, and the rate change requested by the insurers in the May filings. Overall, the OHIC approved weighted average rate changes are 5.9% for the individual market, 3.9% for the small group market, and 8.5% for the large group market.
