The NYS Department of Financial Services has released the rate hikes granted various health insurance companies for 2016, and while the rates are going up, most of them have been cut down from what the firms originally wanted.
For individual customers, insurers had requested on average a 10.4 percent rate hike. The state dropped that more than 30 percent, to 7.1 percent.
In the Small Group Market, insurers requested a rate increase of 14.4 percent. The state cut the rates to 9.8 percent.
State officials say that premiums for individuals remain nearly 50 percent lower than they were prior to the establishment of the state’s health benefit exchange last year.
For two of the Rochester area’s biggest insurers, Excellus and MVP Health Plan, the rates approved were also reduced from the original requests.
Excellus’ request for an increase for individuals was 12.8 percent. That was cut to 5.7. For the Small Group market their request for a 13.9 percent increase was cut to 10 percent.
MVP’s request for an increase for individuals of nearly 13.5 percent was cut to about 10.2 percent.
Their Small Group Market request of a 7.28 percent increase was cut to 6.36 percent.
New York’s Acting Superintendent of Financial Services, Anthony Albanese says his department is working with the NYS Health Department on reforms to the health care payment and delivery system in an effort to address the underlying factors driving up health insurance premiums.
