The Insurance Department denied requests by two insurance companies to boost their rates by more than 12 percent for 2015.
The department denied Anthem’s request to increase its rates on average by more than 12.5 percent. In its decision, the department called the increase “excessive.”
Anthem, which faced public scrutiny at a public hearing in June, was asked to resubmit its rates to the Insurance Department for consideration.
“As we demonstrated during the course of the public hearing, the rates requested in the application were excessive and unsupported by sufficient evidence,” Attorney General George Jepsen and Healthcare Advocate Victoria Veltri said in a statement. “This ruling requires Anthem to resubmit its application in accordance with the department’s recommendations — which will result in lower rates than Anthem had requested.”
The decision was touted by Connecticut’s Congressional delegation as a victory for the Affordable Care Act since some of the rate increases would have impacted plans offered through Access Health CT, the state’s health insurance exchange.
The delegation said the robust review by insurance department regulators “indicate a new era of consumer protection in Connecticut’s health insurance marketplace.”
In the meantime, insurance regulators also turned down a request by ConnectiCare Benefits to raise its rates by 12.8 percent. Instead, it approved a rate hike averaging 3.1 percent.
HealthyCT, which had requested an average rate reduction of 8.6 percent, was granted an 8.5 percent reduction in rates.
Also, UnitedHealthcare, which has not offered plans in the individual market on the exchange in the past, was asked to submit new rates for review.
