Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas voiced its plans to raise its rates on individual policies next year by an average of almost 60%, reported The Pueblo Chieftain.
The insurer covers 603,000 individual policyholders in the state. Notably, unlike other insurers, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas offers coverage to all counties in Texas.
The company, in a filing with federal regulators, said that it is requesting for increases averaging from 57.3% to 59.4% across its individual market plans.
Blue Cross said that its request is based on “strong financial principles, science and data” in a statement.
“It’s also important to understand the magnitude of the losses . . . experienced in the individual retail market over the past two years,” the company further stated in its statement.
Blue Cross said that it had lost $592 million last year and $416 million in 2014.
Other insurers across the country have also requested for considerably larger premium increases for next year, citing financial losses under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The insurers have reasoned that the increases are to account for lower-than-anticipated enrollment, sicker-than-expected customers, and issues with the federal government’s risk corridor program for insurance marketplaces.
While not all insurers have revealed their rates for next year, the premium increases revealed thus far appear to be sharper. Considerable differences have been observed between states and among insurers, suggesting that health insurance is priced locally.
