Insurers in Tennessee will be able to amend their rate requests by Aug. 12 in response to two insurers — Cigna and Humana — notifying the state's insurance regulator their formerly requested premium increases were insufficient, The Tennessean reported.
By allowing payers to revise their requests, the state insurance regulator hopes to prevent insurers from pulling out of Tennessee's Affordable Care Act exchange.
Only three insurers — Cigna, Humana and Chattanooga-based BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee — will sell plans on Tennessee's 2017 exchanges. BCBST, which requested an average 62 percent rate increase and does not plan to revise it, is the only insurer that will sell statewide, according to The Tennessean.
Bloomfield, Conn.-based Cigna previously requested an average 23 percent increase and Louisville, Ky.-based Humana asked for an average 29 percent hike. However, the insurers have since said those increases were too low.
Cigna and Humana have not submitted new requests, but will need to meet with state officials to explain the increases if they do so. The state has until Aug. 23 to approve requested rates and the HHS will need to approve rates by the end of September.
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