Arkansas is a problematic state for many reasons, but I have to give their insurance dept. website high praise for posting their annual rate filings in a clear, simple & comprehensive fashion (which is to say, not only do they post the avg. premium changes for each carrier, they also post the number of covered lives for each, which is often difficult for me to dig up). Better yet, they also include direct links to the filing summaries and include the SERFF tracking number for each in case I need to look up more detailed info.
Hawaii only has two health insurance carriers serving the individual market, Hawaii Medical Service Assocation and Kaiser Foundation Health Plan. Both of them have submitted their proposed premium rate filings for 2023, and unlike most states so far this year, their initial requests are quite reasonable: Just a 2% average hike apiece.
Unfortunately, things are much spottier for Hawaii's small group market: I can only find the rate change & current enrollment filings for one of the 5 carriers offering small business plans, at 5.7%. This doesn't mean much without the data from the other carriers, however:
UPDATE 10/19/22: Both of Hawaii's individual market carrier filings have been approved as is, so that's a 2% average rate increase. On the small group market there's still some missing data but I was able to fill in some fields for both the preliminary and final rate filings:
The projected population consists of expected retention of existing policies and new sales. The sources of new entrants include the previously uninsured population, grandfathered and transitional policies voluntarily migrating to ACA-compliant plans, and previously insured populations from other markets or carriers. The morbidity adjustment reflects projected Anthem and market changes in morbidity, including changes driven by economic conditions and from the expiration of the enhanced ACA premium tax credits available under The American Rescue Plan Act (ARP) as of December 31, 2022. Membership projections reflect contraction similar to pre-ARP population in 2021. Exhibit E shows the morbidity factor.
Maine Health Insurers File Proposed Rates for 2023 Plan Year
Health insurance carriers in Maine's Individual and Small Group markets have filed proposed rates with the Maine Bureau of Insurance (the Bureau) for the 2023 plan year. June 27, 2022 was the deadline for the initial filing of plans and rates, but insurers may revise their filings through July 20, 2022.
The bad news is they don't include the number of enrollees for each carrier, and even the SERFF database filings don't include that information...yet. Fortunately, MNsure does provide a carrier breakout of the individual market...but this only includes on-exchange enrollment, which means PreferredOne (which only offers ACA plans off-exchange) isn't listed, nor are any off-exchange enrollees for the other five exchange carriers.
As for the small group market, the most recent hard enrollment data I have for that is from 2021, which means it's likely not terribly accurate anymore (especially since PreferredOne appears to be dropping out of the MN small group market entirely next year). In addition, UnitedHealthcare scrapped all of their sm. group offerings last year and replaced them with new ones, so I have no clue how many enrollees they have at the moment.
CMS Approves 12-month Extension of Postpartum Coverage in Washington State
Today, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), approved Washington state’s extension of Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) coverage for 12 months after pregnancy. As a result, up to an additional 12,000 people annually will now have access to Medicaid or CHIP coverage for a full year after pregnancy. With today’s approval, an estimated 265,000 Americans annually in 15 states and D.C. have gained access to 12 months of postpartum coverage.
Access Health CT Announces Special Enrollment Period For Covered Connecticut Program
Eligible Connecticut residents have until June 30 to enroll
HARTFORD, Conn. (Feb. 15, 2022) — Access Health CT (AHCT) today announced a Special Enrollment Period for the Covered Connecticut Program that provides health insurance at no cost to Connecticut residents who meet eligibility requirements. This Special Enrollment Period runs now through June 30.
Created and funded by the State of Connecticut, the Covered Connecticut Program pays the customer’s portion of the monthly payment (premium) directly to their insurance company. The program also covers the cost-sharing amounts they would typically have to pay with a health insurance plan, such as co-pays, co-insurance, deductibles and maximum out-of-pocket costs.
The looming disaster on Obamacare subsidies keeps looking worse
Congressional Democrats are confronting a ticking time bomb that threatens both the health security of millions of Americans and Democrats’ own political security in the midterm elections. If they don’t act fast, it’s going to explode.
...Now, another group of Democrats outside Washington is getting increasingly nervous about this prospect. Democratic governors, many of whom are up for reelection this year, don’t want to watch while Congress makes life more difficult for their constituents.
Underscoring the point, a group of Democratic governors has released a new letter imploring congressional leaders to extend the enhanced subsidies.
