10/18/2022 The Alabama Department of Insurance (ALDOI) has approved the final 2023 premium rates for the Affordable Care Act Individual Market in Alabama. The rates will be effective on January 1, 2023. The three carriers in the Alabama individual market are Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama (BCBS), UnitedHealthcare Insurance Company (UHC), and Celtic Insurance Company (CIC). In general, rates for BCBS decreased 0.3 percent, and rates for UHC increased 14.9 percent. CIC is new to the Affordable Care Act Individual Market in Alabama in 2023. The actual rates and the supporting material may be found by clicking on the links below.
Consumers with an insurance question may contact the Alabama Department of Insurance, Consumer Services Division, using the contact information below. The Department also maintains a Live Chat feature for consumers at our website at www.aldoi.gov. A representative will be happy to help answer your questions.
MICHIGAN: Another One (Mostly) Bites The Dust; 12th CO-OP Drops Off Exchange, May Go Belly-Up
It appears that East Lansing-based Consumers Mutual Insurance of Michigan could wind down operations this year as it is not participating in the state health insurance exchange for 2016.
But officials of Consumers Mutual today are discussing several options that could determine its future status with the state Department of Insurance and Financial Services, said David Eich, marketing and public relations officer with Consumers Mutual.
Consumers Mutual CEO Dennis Litos said: "We are reviewing our situation (financial condition) with DIFS and should conclude on a future direction this week.”
While Eich said he could not disclose the options, he said one is “winding down” the company, which has 28,000 members, including about 6,000 on the exchange.
ACA RATE CHANGES FOR ALABAMA POLICIES IN THE INDIVIDUAL MARKET
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) requires that insurers planning to increase plan premiums submit their rates to the Alabama Department of Insurance for review.
The rate review process is designed to improve insurer accountability and transparency. It ensures that experts evaluate whether the proposed rate increases are based on reasonable cost assumptions and solid evidence. The ACA also requires that a summary of rate review justifications and results be accessible to the public in an easily understandable format. The Federal HealthCare.gov Rate Review website is designed to meet that mandate. For more information, see here.
The information is provided in the tables below. Also attached are links to the redacted actuarial memorandum, which support these changes. The rate changes are being proposed and reviewed by the Alabama Department of insurance (ALDOI). As soon as they are final, they may be purchased on the Federal Exchange or through private agents and brokers. The programs will be effective beginning on January 1, 2023.
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) requires that insurers planning to increase plan premiums submit their rates to the Alabama Department of Insurance for review.
The rate review process is designed to improve insurer accountability and transparency. It ensures that experts evaluate whether the proposed rate increases are based on reasonable cost assumptions and solid evidence. The ACA also requires that a summary of rate review justifications and results be accessible to the public in an easily understandable format. The Federal HealthCare.gov Rate Review website is designed to meet that mandate. For more information, see here.
The information is provided in the tables below. Also attached are links to the redacted actuarial memorandum, which support these changes. The rate changes are being proposed and reviewed by the Alabama Department of insurance (ALDOI). As soon as they are final, they may be purchased on the Federal Exchange or through private agents and brokers. The programs will be effective beginning on January 1, 2022.
I've once again relaunched my project from last fall to track Medicaid enrollment (both standard and expansion alike) on a monthly basis for every state dating back to the ACA being signed into law.
Now that I've developed a standardized format/layout & methodology for tracking both state- and county-level COVID vaccination levels by partisan lean (which can also be easily applied to other variables like education level, median income, population density, ethnicity, etc), I've started moving beyond my home state of Michigan.
As I noted a couple of weeks ago, I've relaunched my project from last fall to track Medicaid enrollment (both standard and expansion alike) on a monthly basis for every state dating back to the ACA being signed into law.
The American Rescue Plan does plenty to make private ACA-compliant health insurance dramatically more affordable for everyone earning more than 100% of the Federal Poverty Level. For those below 100% FPL, however, it takes an indirect approach. As I wrote a few weeks ago:
One possible "solution" would have been to simply remove the lower-bound income cut-off point for ACA exchange subsidy eligibility (that is, to lower the threshold from 100% FPL to 0%)...However, this would create two new problems: First, Medicaid is far more comprehensive than nearly all ACA plans...Secondly, if the lower-end subsidy cut-off were removed, it's almost certain that quite a few states which have already expanded the program would reverse themselves and allow Medicaid expansion to expire, in order to save the 10% portion of the cost that they have to pay.
The Alabama Department of Insurance (ALDOI) has approved the final 2021 premium rates for the Affordable Care Act Individual Market in Alabama. The rates will be effective on January 1, 2021. The two carriers in the Alabama individual market are Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama (BCBS) and Bright Health Insurance Company of Alabama (BHIC). In general, rates for BCBS increased five percent and rates for BHIC increased 22 percent. The actual rates and the supporting material may be found by clicking on the links below.
Unfortunately, the linked documents are still redacted and thus don't include the enrollment numbers for Bright (and this press release says nothing about the small group market), but as far as I can tell this doesn't change the averages of either market much from the preliminary filings. Assuming Bright still only has a tiny part of the market, even its 22% average increase doesn't move the needle much.
