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July 18, 2022

CT health insurers seek 14.8% hike in 2023 small group rates

Insurance Commissioner Andrew N. Mais
By Greg Bordonaro

Health insurers planning to offer group and individual health plans in Connecticut in 2023 are asking for bigger double-digit increases than they did a year ago.

The annual crop of rate filings for traditional fully-insured plans, which cover 206,186 people in the state, contained an average requested increase of 14.8% for the small group market (employers with under 50 workers) and 20.4% for the individual market.

The annual requests, which are subject to the approval of (and potential modification by) the Connecticut Insurance Department, last year were 12.9% for small group plans and 8.6% for individual plans.

CID ultimately decided the 2022 increases were not justified, and reduced them to an average of 6.7% for small groups and 5.6% for individuals.

The newly-requested increases for small group policies taking effect Jan. 1, 2023, range from 3.6% to 29.3%, while the proposed hikes for individual plans range from 8.6% to 25.2%, CID said.

The 13 rate filings from nine health insurers cover policies both off and on the state’s insurance exchange, Access Health CT.

One insurer that didn’t submit new rate requests for 2023 was Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, which announced in April that it was exiting the state’s commercial health insurance market. The company had about 12,000 commercial members in the state.

CID said that carriers attributed the rate increases to a number of factors, including rising healthcare costs, driven by the cost of prescription drugs and increased demand for medical services; the impact of new laws mandating coverage for various conditions like diabetes treatments; and the impacts of COVID-19, specifically increased health problems experienced by some individuals who delayed care during the pandemic.

CID Commissioner Andrew N. Mais will make final rulings on the requests in September. The department will hold an informational hearing on requested rate increases in early August, he said.

“Working within the authority granted to this Department, we will closely examine these filings to make sure the requested rates are consistent with state law,” Mais said.

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