Earlier this week, the RI Attorney General and Blue Cross Blue Shield reached an agreement for approval of a 9.5 percent rate increase for individual, or direct-pay, health insurance plans—the original proposed rate increase was 10.2 percent.
I don’t think the 0.7 percent reduction is a good agreement for the people of Rhode Island, and in written testimony on the proposed rate increase, I requested that the application for the increase be rejected entirely. From a press release I issued Wednesday:
“As Rhode Islanders struggle through this economic downturn, the 9.5 percent rate hike agreed to by the Attorney General and Blue Cross is simply unaffordable and unacceptable. This rate hike affects Rhode Islanders who can least afford any increase, let alone one that tips toward double digits. The self-employed, small business owners, and individuals who have no access to insurance through their employers or who have lost their jobs will see health insurance become simply too expensive—and they will have nowhere else to turn.
“The deal to allow a 9.5 percent rate hike for direct-pay plans may be a reduction of the initial proposal, but is unsustainable and fails to address the issue of affordability, which is one of the standards for rate filings, and by law, should be considered as part of the equation for determining fair and reasonable rate increases.
“The process here has clearly failed Rhode Islanders who cannot afford these rate increases, and I am hopeful that the Health Insurance Commissioner will keep the affordability standard uppermost in his mind as he reviews this matter.”