Advocates say protections for insurance consumers in New York State are stronger than in many other states.
New York residents can view proposed insurance rate changes on the Department of Financial Services website.
Vice President for Health Initiatives at the Community Service Society of New York, Elisabeth Benjamin says many other states have a process that is less transparent.
Consumer advocates across the country say a process that is open to insurance consumer review is the model for states to follow.
“I think the first year of the rate review process where we restored public rate review and the government’s ability to do this, the proposed rate increases where something on the order of 14 a percent on average, and they only got 9 percent approved rate increase, of that year,” Benjamin told WXXI.
Benjamin says the state’s insurance rate review process saves consumers hundreds of thousands of dollars each year.