Cigna, Humana file for higher Obamacare premiums
Cigna and Humana each filed revised, and higher, requests for premiums on the 2017 Obamacare exchange after the state's insurance regulator granted them the chance to revisit earlier requests in a bid to keep the insurers in the market.
In its latest filing, Cigna is proposing an average 46 percent increase — double its first 23 percent increase request.
Humana, which requested a 29 percent average increase in June, is requesting an average 44.3 percent increase, according to a filing with the state regulators.
The Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance is set to approve rates for next year on or before Aug. 23, but decided to allow insurers to revise requests after hearing concerns from Cigna and Humana that proposed increases would not cover claims.
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Kevin Walters, spokesman for the agency, said Monday that the possibility of the insurers leaving over projected losses was "too great a risk." The TDCI stipulated that insurers with revised requests would have to meet with state officials in person to explain.
"The carriers will be required to send senior staff to Nashville to defend the revised filings. At the same time, our actuarial consultants will dig into every revised assumption to determine whether the submissions are justifiable," Walters said about what's next since the companies revised their requests.
Cigna expects members to use more services and that the cost of health care services and supplies will increase "because of prices charged by doctors, hospitals, and other providers," according to its filing.
Both insurers cited the discontinuation of the federal transitional reinsurance program as a factor.
BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee, which requested an average 62 percent increase, is not revising its 2017 premium proposal.
The deadline for the state to approve rate requests is Aug. 23. The deadline will not change. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services must approve the rates by the end of September.
The number of insurers selling health coverage on the federally run exchange has steadily dropped over the past two years. Assurant and UnitedHealthcare left and Community Health Alliance entered into voluntary run-off.
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Cigna and Humana are each planning to sell in three metro areas in 2017. BCBST is the only insurer on track to sell in all 95 counties. With UnitedHealthcare's departure after 2016, there will be 57 counties with only one insurer.
People who are buying plans on the exchange are turning out to be heavier users of the system and sicker than expected.
Reach Holly Fletcher at 615-259-8287 and on Twitter @hollyfletcher.