State Attorney General William Tong and Healthcare Advocate Ted Doolittle are urging the state Insurance Department to carefully scrutinize health insurers’ requests to raise rates next year, pointing to the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic as a strong motivator to keep costs low.
In a joint letter to the department, Tong and Doolittle noted that healthcare utilization rates fell sharply during the early months of the pandemic, when most people were urged to put off appointments and stay at home. As a result, they said, health insurers “reaped windfall profits” in 2020, but still want to increase “already inflated” rates.
The main driver behind the companies’ requests — which on average would raise the cost of individual plans by 8.6% and small groups plans by 12.9% — is spending linked to the COVID-19 pandemic, including costs for testing, vaccination and other treatments, the letter states, but the federal government may have already offered those providers reimbursements for their services.
Tong and Doolittle also argued that higher rates would create hardships for Connecticut families.
“Annual health insurance price increases can wreak havoc on family budgets, but to say that the current proposed increases come at a difficult time is truly an understatement,” they wrote. “Many consumers are struggling with the impacts of COVID-19: they have lost jobs; they can’t pay their rent and unemployment support is tapering. Small employers are likewise facing intense economic hardships as they struggle to regain a footing in the market.”
The two asked that any increases approved by the department be grounded in “evidence.”
The Insurance Department has the power to accept, reject or amend health insurance rate change requests. Final rates for 2022 are expected to be set next month.
