Insurers' '15 rates go online in slip-up

Information inadvertently posted on the Arkansas Insurance Department's website showed that Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield and the company's national affiliate did not request rate increases for next year for plans the companies are offering on the state's health insurance exchange.

However, Insurance Department officials took the information off the website Friday, saying they didn't intend for it to be public until the rates have been approved by the department and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

Seth Blomeley, a spokesman for the Insurance Department's Health Connector Division, said the rate proposals are not expected to be approved by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services until early November.

Nonetheless, department officials are considering releasing preliminary rate information sooner, he said.

"In the interest of transparency, we're going to look and see what we can do -- whether there would be a problem releasing it sooner than we had planned," Blomeley said.

He declined to comment on the rate information, saying it was accidentally posted on the website by another division of the department.

Arkansas Blue Cross spokesman Max Greenwood also declined to comment Friday, saying it would be "irresponsible" to do so until the rates have been approved.

She added that the Insurance Department officials' refusal to comment "speaks volumes."

"When the filings are approved and ready to be made public, we'll comment on them at that time," Greenwood said.

The Web page for the department's Health Insurance Premium Rate Review Division listed a proposed rate increase of zero for plans offered by Arkansas Blue Cross and the national Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, including those on the insurance exchange that were issued after Jan. 1 of this year, when new requirements took effect under the 2010 health care law.

Plans offered on the exchange include those purchased with Medicaid funds through the so-called private option, which are available to adults with incomes below 138 percent of the poverty level: $16,105 for an individual, for instance, or $32,913 for a family of four.

Tax credit subsidies are available to many consumers who don't qualify for Medicaid but have incomes of less than 400 percent of the poverty level: for example, $45,960 for an individual or $94,200 for a family of four.

As of late June, about 152,000 people were in plans offered on the exchange by Arkansas Blue Cross or the national Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, including about 115,000 in Medicaid-funded plans, Greenwood has said.

The rate proposals were listed as being under review by the Insurance Department.

The website also listed proposed rate increases of 15.7 percent for 32,361 people covered by "transitional" Arkansas Blue Cross policies and an increase of 16.5 percent for people in an "individual closed bloc" of policies.

Both proposed increases appeared to refer to policies issued before the federal health care law's requirements took effect Jan. 1.

Among the other companies offering plans on the exchange, the website listed Little Rock-based QualChoice Health Insurance as requesting no increase for plans on the exchange but being approved by the Insurance Department for a 5 percent increase.

Centene Corp. was listed as not requesting an increase for its exchange plans but being approved by the department for a 12 percent decrease.

Representatives from QualChoice and Centene didn't return calls seeking comment late Friday.

As of July 31, about 200,000 Arkansans were enrolled in plans on the exchange, including 163,480 in Medicaid-funded plans.

Once approved, new rates for plans on the exchange will take effect Jan. 1. Those who qualify for the state's expanded Medicaid program can enroll throughout the year. Open enrollment for coverage starting next year for those who don't qualify for Medicaid will start Nov. 15.

A report on the website's rate information was first reported on the Arkansas Times blog late Friday afternoon.

State Sen. David Sanders, R-Little Rock, and a sponsor of the law creating the private option, said the preliminary information indicates that the program is succeeding in increasing competition among insurance companies.

He noted that QualChoice and Centene, which only offered plans in parts of the state this year, plan to expand their offerings to every county next year.

And, to trim costs starting next year, the Medicaid program will no longer pay premiums for plans that offer adult vision and dental coverage.

"Even though these are early indications, and the rates aren't finalized, it looks very encouraging," Sanders said. "It looks like Arkansas, from what I've seen, may look fundamentally different from our other fellow states around the country."

A section on 08/23/2014

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