ALBANY, N.Y. (WKBW) — Health insurance premiums are set to drop next year under the Affordable Care Act.
The Department of Financial Services (DFS) announced Premium Rates for 2020 on Monday. According to a news release issued by the department, "rates for individuals are more than 55% lower than prior to the establishment of the NY State of Health in 2014, adjusting for inflation but not counting federal financial assistance that the ACA makes available to many consumers purchasing insurance. Approximately 326,000 New Yorkers are currently enrolled in individual commercial plans."
The DFS, "reduced overall Insurers' Requested Rate for Individual Coverage from 9.2% to 6.8%, saving consumer over $50million."
Overall, according to DFS, consumer who receive tax credits for the most popular Silver Plan will not set an increase in premiums in 2020.
Following information Courtesy of the Department of Financial Services.
DFS INDIVIDUAL MARKET RATE ACTION
| Company | Requested 2020 Rate Actions | Approved 2020 Rate Actions | DFS Modification (In Percentage Points) |
|---|---|---|---|
| CDPHP* | 7.0% | 6.5% | -0.5 |
| Emblem (HIP)* | 13.5% | 13.5% | 0.0 |
| Excellus* | 6.3% | 6.3% | 0.0 |
| Fidelis (NY Quality Healthcare Corp)* | 6.8% | 3.9% | -2.9 |
| Healthfirst Insurance Company, Inc. | 12.0% | 9.8% | -2.2 |
| Healthfirst PHSP, Inc.* | 8.0% | 6.4% | -1.6 |
| Healthnow New York* | 10.0% | 8.6% | -1.4 |
| HealthPlus HP, LLC (Formerly Empire)* | 6.2% | 0.0% | -6.2 |
| IHBC* | 3.3% | 1.7% | -1.6 |
| MetroPlus* | 8.6% | 7.6% | -1.0 |
| MVP Health Plan* | 6.8% | 6.8% | 0.0 |
| Oscar* | 15.4% | 14.0% | -1.4 |
| UnitedHealthcare of New York Inc* | 27.1% | 15.0% | -12.1 |
| All Companies | 9.2% | 6.8% | -2.4** |
* Indicates the company offers products on the New York State of Health Marketplace.
** Represents a reduction of 26%.
Small Group Market
More than one million New Yorkers are enrolled in small group plans, which cover employers with 1 to 100 employees. Insurers requested an average rate increase of 12.2% in the small group market. DFS cut the weighted average requested rate increases by 4.3 percentage points, or 35%, from 12.2% to 7.9% for 2020, saving small businesses over $313 million. The federal ACA Health Insurance Tax, which was reimposed for 2020, accounts for approximately 3% of these rates. Without this tax, the increase would have been 4.7%. A number of small businesses will also be eligible for tax credits that may lower those premium costs even further.
| Company | Requested 2020 Rate Actions | Approved 2020 Rate Actions | DFS Modification (In Percentage Points) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aetna Life | 9.3% | 1.1% | -8.2 |
| CDPHP* | 4.3% | 4.3% | 0.0 |
| CDPHP UBI | 6.8% | 5.4% | -1.4 |
| Emblem (HIP)* | 5.9% | 4.9% | -1.0 |
| Empire Healthchoice Assurance | 8.5% | 8.5% | 0.0 |
| Excellus* | 6.8% | 5.7% | -1.1 |
| Healthfirst Insurance Company, Inc.* | -4.7% | -4.7% | 0.0 |
| Healthnow New York | 5.5% | 5.5% | 0.0 |
| IHBC* | 1.1% | -0.5% | -1.6 |
| MetroPlus* | 6.0% | 6.0% | 0.0 |
| MVP Health Plan* | 9.0% | 9.0% | 0.0 |
| MVP Health Service Corp | 6.1% | 6.1% | 0.0 |
| Oscar* | 17.5% | 17.5% | 0.0 |
| Oxford Health Insurance Inc* | 15.9% | 9.6% | -6.3 |
| UnitedHealthcare Ins Company of New York* | 14.5% | 13.3% | -1.2 |
| All Companies | 12.2% | 7.9% | -4.3** |
* Indicates the company offers products on the New York State of Health Marketplace.
** Represents a reduction of 35%.
