The Division of Insurance just released the average rate increases for the individual health insurance market in 2019. You can view the release here.
For 2019 individual plans, the average premium increase request is 5.94 percent across all companies and metal levels.
The rate increases are not uniform across plan categories…
Looking closer, the requested average premium increase for individual gold plans is 6.85 percent, and is 12.30 percent for silver plans. For bronze plans, the requested average premium increase is 0.9 percent.
And the highest priced provider in the state, Anthem, is requesting rate decrease!!
In addition, for the first time in years, an insurance company is requesting a rate decrease for individual market plans for 2019. In fact, both companies under the Anthem umbrella, HMO Colorado and Rocky Mountain Hospital and Medical Service, requested average decreases: -0.44 percent for HMO Colorado, and -2.64 percent for Rocky Mountain Hospital and Medical Service.
Aside from the fact that insurance premiums are simply too high for households that don’t qualify for tax credits, this is good news!