Two months before health insurers must submit rate proposals for 2015 to government regulators, WellPoint Inc. fired a surprising shot across their bow by predicting it may ask for “double-digit-plus” increases.
Kathleen Sebelius, the U.S. Health and Human Services secretary, said March 13 that while premiums for health plans sold on the Obamacare insurance exchanges would rise next year, the increases would be “far less significant than they were before the passage of the Affordable Care Act.”
Double digit.
As in 10% and higher. My money is on higher.
Of course this rocket surgeon has his own thoughts.
“The double-digit increase surprised me,” said Stephen Zaharuk, a New York-based analyst at Moody’s Investors Service, in a telephone interview. “If everything’s working according to plan, then the increases should be where the medical trend is, which should not be double-digit.”Seriously?
Obviously Mr. Zaharuk has no clue how health insurance rates are determined. Maybe he should stick to predicting grocery prices.
“The rules of the road keep changing,” said Dan Mendelson, chief executive officer of Washington-based consulting firm Avalere Health. “These companies have to hedge their bets.”Rule changes? No kidding.
Expect DC to call for broader networks and expanded formularies, just to name a few.
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