Minuteman Health, a nonprofit HMO covering NH and Massachusetts, submitted a preliminary 2017 rate filing with the New Hampshire Insurance Department, projecting high-end-of-range increases of 45.2 percent in individual premiums ($273.70 in 2016 to $397.39 in 2017) and 1.5 percent in small group rates ($339.85 in 2016 to $344.81 in 2017).
Projected rates were calculated within the context of the federal Risk Adjustment program, established by the Affordable Care Act to decrease adverse selection by providing funding to insurers with higher-risk populations from plans with relatively lower risk enrollees.
Minuteman also considered the 2016 launch of the Premium Assistance Program (PAP), which provides health coverage to Medicare and Medicaid ineligible adults aged 19 to 64 with incomes up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level. Due to its recent launch, there is insufficient data available on the PAP, which may be affected by the Risk Adjustment program.
Minuteman’s final rates will be filed by July 15,after the federal Risk Adjustment program results are released on June 30 and any state-based adjustments to that program are made.
Scott Colby, senior VP of sales and executive director, NH at Minuteman, says the initial filing is based on projections, and final filed rates may be different once more information is made available.
“What is perfectly clear is that the federal Risk Adjustment formula will be the determining factor in the final rates,” says Colby. “The current federal Risk Adjustment model forces all prices higher…We have to budget responsibly to cover whatever situations may arise, and we will adjust as more information becomes available.”
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