Coloradans facing major health-insurance premium, provider changes for 2017
DENVER — About 92,000 people in Colorado will be scrambling to find a new provider for 2017, as four insurance companies are pulling out or reducing their individual plan offerings through the state exchange — Connect for Health Colorado — created through the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
A number of companies currently offering individual plans are seeking significant premium increases, up to 46 percent in one case, for their 2017 individual plans.
The four companies that are discontinuing or reducing individual plans —Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield, United Healthcare, Humana Insurance and Rocky Mountain Health Plans — will continue to offer small- and large-group plans for employers, the Colorado Division of Insurance announced Monday.
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Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield decided that it will not offer its preferred provider organization individual plans for 2017, which impacts 62,310 people. However, Anthem will continue to offer health maintenance organization individual plans statewide, and these plans will be available to all consumers affected by the PPO decision.
UnitedHealthcare and Humana Insurance will not offer individual plans in 2017, which impacts approximately 20,000 consumers in Colorado — UnitedHealthcare, 10,549; Humana, 9,914).
Rocky Mountain Health Plans will reduce individual-plan offerings for 2017, offering individual plans only in Mesa County, only via its Monument Health affiliate. Approximately 10,000 people currently enrolled in an individual RMHP plan will have to find another plan for 2017.
“I’d rather these companies continued in the individual market,” said Marguerite Salazar, Colorado’s insurance commissioner. “But in the larger picture, what’s taking place is a market correction; the free market is at work. …While it was good initially to have so many companies offering so many individual plans, this could be an indication that there were too many options for the market to support.”
Open enrollment will be Nov. 1 through Jan. 31. Bright Health Plans, new to the Colorado market, will sell individual plans both on and off the exchange.
Premium increases ahead
Requested premium changes for individual plans include:
Golden Rule, 46 percent; Colorado Choice, 36.3 percent; Rocky Mountain HMO, 34.6 percent; Anthem BCBS, 26.8 percent; Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of Colorado, 13.6 percent; Freedom Life Insurance, 10 percent; National Foundation Life, 10 percent; Cigna, 9.5 percent; and Denver Health, 0.08 percent.
Requested premium changes for small-group plans include:
Rocky Mountain Health Care Options, 11.2 percent; Colorado Choice, 7.4 percent; Humana Health, 6.4 percent; Rocky Mountain HMO, 5.1 percent; Humana Insurance Co., 4.4 percent; Anthem BCBS (HMO Colorado), 4.1 percent; Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of Colorado, 3.7 percent; Anthem BCBS (Rocky Mountain Hospital and Medical Service), 2.9 percent; Kaiser Permanente Insurance, -0.9 percent; UnitedHealthcare of Colorado, -1.6 percent; Aetna Life Insurance Co., -3.6 percent; Aetna Health Inc., -4.4 percent; UnitedHealthcare Insurance Co., -7.7 percent.
“It’s important to remember that proposed insurance rates are often higher than the finalized rates, so we do expect some proposed rate increases to be cut back after review by the Division of Insurance,” said Adam Fox, director of strategic engagement for the Colorado Consumer Health Initiative. “Nevertheless, some of the proposed increases negatively impact the affordability and availability of coverage overall, especially in some areas of the state where the number of plans and carriers are limited.”
