NH – Minuteman Health ask for 30% Rate Increase

June 2017 ~

The second-largest insurer in the New Hampshire Affordable Care Act (ACA) market has requested average rate hikes of 30% for 2018, citing Medicaid expansion and federally imposed risk adjustments as the cause for the request.

Minuteman Health Chief Executive Officer, Tom Policelli, announced the preliminary proposal in an interview, stating at that time that Medicaid-expansion customers, who don’t pay any premiums or deductibles, will not feel any impact from the change, and impact on subsidized Exchange customers will likely be very small.

According to Policelli, the Medicaid expansion is only responsible for about a third of the proposed Minuteman rate increase for next year. The ACA program of risk adjustment is responsible for about two-thirds of the increase said Policelli.

“This is a shadow tax on a very small population, and will likely make individual coverage too expensive for many,” Minuteman said in a statement.

“What’s going to drive rates higher is not medical costs. What’s going to drive rates higher is unintended results of policy decisions,” Policelli said.

Minuteman insures about 27,000 New Hampshire customers and it is expected that the increase have the most significant impact on the 20,000-plus Exchange customers who are not subsidized.

Source(s): New Hampshire Union Leader; Washington Free Beacon; Kaiser Health News;