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Kaiser Health Plan hopes to raise rates in the individual market by 14.5 percent in 2017. Kaiser is part of an integrated health care operation that includes Westside Medical Center in Hillsboro, shown here while still under construction.
(Andrew Theen/The Oregonian)
After a brutal two years in which they lost a collective $253.3 million, Oregon's health insurers are again seeking double-digit price hikes in 2017.
As tentatively approved by state regulators, All ten companies offering individual health policies will raise rates in 2017, from 9.8 percent for Health Net Health Plan of Oregon to 17.9 percent for Regence BlueCross BlueShield of Oregon to 29.3 percent for Moda Health Plan.
The dawning of the Affordable Care Act era has been tough on health insurers and consumers. No longer able to deny coverage to customers with pre-existing conditions, many of the state's largest carriers have lost millions of dollars and have passed on two successive years of big rate hikes to their customers.
"We're certainly concerned about affordability," said Laura Cali, Oregon insurance commissioner. "We're worried that people will just decide not to buy insurance."
So far, the evidence in Oregon suggests citizens are willing to pay the price. The number of people buying insurance through the individual market continues to rise and the number of uninsured Oregonians continues to decline, Cali said.
A complete list of the proposed new rates is available here.
The state is scheduled to make its final decision on 2017 rates by July 1. In the meantime, regulators will hold public hearings and is accepting comments from the public. The state is asking Oregonians for input at a series of public hearings.
A consumer watchdog group voiced concern that the new higher rates are not entirely justified.
"We acknowledge that many Oregon insurers lost money in 2015, and it is not unreasonable for them to seek to avoid large financial losses going forward," said Jesse O'Brien, policy director for the OSPIRG Foundation, which closely scrutinizes the industry. "But the more we dig into the insurers' justifications, the more concerned we are that the proposed rates may overcharge consumers."
OSPIRG is equally concerned about the windfall profits enjoyed by many hospitals since passage of the Affordable Care Act. Hospitals' surging bottom line stems in part from the fact they are providing much lower levels of charity care to the uninsured.
"With study after study showing that one-third of health care spending is waste, we can't afford anything but a full-court press for more effective use of our health care dollars," OSPIRG's O'Brien said.
Despite the big losses of recent years, state officials said Oregon's health insurers are financially sound. "Carriers that cover the most people are largely extraordinarily well capitalized despite the fact they've absorbed large losses," said Patrick Allen, head of the Oregon Department of Consumer and Business Services.
That wasn't always the case with Moda, Oregon's second-largest insurer. The Portland company was driven to the brink of insolvency in 2015 and was taken into "supervision" by state regulators in January.
Since then, Moda has sold off assets and borrowed money to replenish its capital reserves by some $165 million. Barring the unexpected, the state will soon allow Moda to return to normal operations, Allen said.
-- Jeff Manning
503-294-7606, jmanning@oregonian.com