Should you expect to pay more for health coverage next year? The State Insurance Department is starting to review 38 health plans filed to provide coverage under the Affordable Care Act.
About a half million Pennsylvanians have individual health plans and 375,000 are covered through small group plans under the ACA.
The State Insurance Commissioner says premium increases proposed by companies average 7.9 percent for small group plans and 23.6 percent for individual plans.
Highmark is requesting rate hikes ranging from 25 to 48 percent for individual plans, Geisinger’s asking for around 40 percent, and UPMC is proposing just under one percent to 16 percent.
Insurance Commissioner Teresa Miller says her department will conduct a thorough review of the requested rates and that last year, she proposed rates by nearly $81 million before approving final rates for 2016.
The insurance department says most residents with ACA coverage get subsidies to help pay their premiums.
