Mr. Tong said that the three insurers submitted rate requested based on trends “well in excess of nationally-supported data, including the Milliman Medical Index used by insurers, Connecticut’s Cost Growth Benchmark, the Consumer Price Index, and even projections for Connecticut’s Employee Health Plan administered by Anthem,” according to an Aug. 15 news release from his office.
“There appears to be a widespread lack of specific justifications for conclusions stated in actuarial memoranda in each of the filings,” he said in the release. “The carriers make sweeping statements about their annual trend but do not provide the data to justify their assumptions. The insurance department can and must thoroughly scrutinize these applications and be a voice for consumers in a system that is making health insurance less accessible every year.”
He also said his office is exploring potential legislative reforms that would impose heightened scrutiny to insurers applying trend data in excess of industry-accepted or government-developed benchmarks.
Mr. Tong’s objections come less than a week after Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha asked his state’s insurance commissioner to reject rate hike proposals from six payers.
Elsewhere in New England, Vermont regulators on Aug. 4 rejected rate increase proposals from BCBS Vermont and MVP Health for their individual and small group exchange plans, which provided coverage to 72,000 residents last year.
