Isle health costs to jump an average of 6.2 percent
STAR-ADVERTISER / JAN. 2015
Dione Ortiz received a flu vaccination at the Kaiser Permanente Clinic in Honolulu. More than half a million Hawaii residents in commercial health plans will see an average 6.2 percent rate hike Sunday.
More than half a million Hawaii residents in commercial health plans will see an average 6.2 percent rate hike Sunday.
The state Insurance Division estimates that 534,647 people will be affected by rising premiums at the start of the year, including 45,363 individuals who will see the highest average jump at 33.2 percent due to substantial increases for policies under the federal Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare. The state Insurance Division, which regulates health plan rates, approved a 35 percent rate hike for Hawaii Medical Service Association members and a 25.9 percent increase for Kaiser Permanente Hawaii’s Affordable Care Act policies.
An estimated 390,120 members in large-group policies under HMSA, Kaiser, HMAA (Hawaii Medical Assurance Association) and UHA (University Health Alliance) will see an 11.7 percent boost in premiums, while 99,164 people in small groups will see rates climb by 2.8 percent, the division said. Groups might have lower or higher increases from the averages depending on an employer group’s plan and insurer.
“It’s one of those things that seem to never ever go down. There’s always an increase, whether it’s modest or huge,” said Tim Lyons, executive director of the Hawaii Business League, a small-business advocacy group with 900 members statewide. “The health care industry and insurance industry don’t seem to have any shame as far as increasing costs. They’ve got a mandate going (Hawaii’s Prepaid Health Care Act, which requires businesses to provide health insurance to full-time workers), so people have to buy from them. The difficult thing, of course, is that small businesses generally exist because of service and price, and when you have these kind of increases, then it certainly makes them less competitive. They either have to absorb it, or they have to increase their prices. When you increase your prices, you’re slowly losing your edge over some of the big stores.”
Aiea Resident Kelii Lopez, who pays $326 a month for his individual plan under Kaiser, said his premiums will rise to $474 as of Sunday. “It sucks because prices go up but the service is the same,” he said. “Having to pay more has to come out of somewhere. It’s making me consider not keeping the insurance that I want because I can’t afford it.”
The Insurance Division said it lowered the combined average rate hike for individuals, small groups and large businesses to 6.2 percent from 12.3 percent.
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“After the Insurance Division’s review, the current total average rate increase was reduced to approximately 6.2 percent, for a savings of more than $13 million. Even with this reduction … these types of increases are not sustainable,” said Insurance Commissioner Gordon Ito. “If these types of rate increases continue, health premiums will double in 10 years as it has done over the last 20 years. The reason is health care costs continue to rise at a rate of 6 percent to 8 percent a year. We must work collectively to address the health care cost drivers and bring down the annual health care cost increases to reduce premium increases.”
HMSA Said it is still determining the average rate hikes for large business groups with about 153,000 members. About 20,000 individuals will be affected by a 35 percent increase for ACA plans, while 12,400 members in small-group plans will see premiums climb 7.5 percent.
“Much of this year’s Affordable Care Act individual plan rate increase is because a small group of people are using significantly more health care services than we expected and the program did not attract enough young, healthy individuals. This has led to a $33 million loss on ACA individual plans over the past two years,” HMSA said. “We’re evolving the way we work to avoid this situation next year and, more importantly, better support these members’ health and well-being. That’s why we’ve assigned dedicated HMSA team members — registered nurses and care coordinators — to work closely with these individuals and their doctors, so they can reach their best health and gain better control over health care costs.”
Meanwhile, HMAA said it has proposed a 24 percent increase for 600 individuals in ACA small-group policies and a 10.3 percent decrease for 16,000 people in non-ACA plans. About 26,000 large-group members will see a 5.8 percent boost in premiums. UHA’s ACA small-group plans will rise 2.9 percent for about 5,300 members and 6.5 percent for about 22,600 people. Large groups covering about 27,100 members will see an average increase of 7.6 percent. The Insurance Division must still approve some of the rates that take effect Sunday.
Kaiser didn’t provide rate adjustments to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser.
17 responses to “Isle health costs to jump an average of 6.2 percent”
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Before Obamacare Hawaii had one of the best health insurance coverages for its people due to passed legislation. Obamacare was a step backwards for Hawaii’s citizens. And who did Hawaii overwhelmingly vote for in ’08 and ’12 and for which party that considers Obamacare one of its greatest accomplishments. And which candidate said you can keep your doctor if you want which turned out to be false and he knew it all the time.
“Under my Affordable Care Act, the average American family will save $2500/year in Healthcare costs.” Guess whoooooo…
…not any of you! Habla Ingles brah? LOL
IRT Sandi2000 completely agree with your post. Many don’t realize that the hardest hit are the union members who gained “Cadillac” plans through effective collective bargaining.
The state Insurance Division, which regulates health plan rates, approved a 35 percent rate hike for Hawaii Medical Service Association members and a 25.9 percent increase for Kaiser Permanente Hawaii’s Affordable Care Act policies.
The above statement about ACA says it all. Pre-existing conditions and children(?) under 26 years.
Only Democrats could pass a law which on its face is unsustainable but blame it on not enough young healthy people signing up.
Pre-existing condition medical coverage sounds great, but that’s just not how insurance works. It’s like being able to get guaranteed “inexpensive”” life ensurance once you know you have terminal cancer. Someone’s going to pay for that cost, and that someone is everyone else who has to absorb the increased costs.
You gotta be kidding. My rates are going up almost 50%!!!!
My Medicare/Kaiser medical insurance increased 73.5%! It’s still affordable…..for now.
Part of this is the semi monopoly our private insurance companies have. It cannot just be about rate increases. Insurance carriers such as HMSA also must control costs and overhead. They appear top and indirect overhead heavy. Who is watching out for us? The state insurance commission is supposed to but appears to be an ineffective rubber stamp and/or difference splitter. Lets hope Pres elect Trump brings more private insurance out of state competition to Hawaii.
The real problem in rising healthcare costs is too many people need too much treatment. The way to bring down the costs is to focus on prevention, not just treatment after diseases develop. Most cases of chronic diseases–like heart disease, diabetes, and cancer–are preventable and can be reversed with better lifestyle choices. If you are against policies like the added-sugar tax, then you just have to live with higher and higher healthcare costs, because most people need a nudge to break their bad habits. An added-sugar tax is a sign to people that the social norms are changing toward healthy habits, and that makes it easier to personally make healthy choices.
BS, you’re subsidizing health care for 40+ million illegals back on the mainland. Go read up on the staggering numbers of illegals in
California alone that are getting over $6k+ a month in government benefits from the state and federal government. I bet you won’t even get a monthly $6k+ check from the government even if you worked 30 years for the government!
So who making money in this program? Someone does.
Actually, it’s possible no one is making money with ACA, unless you count the previously uninsured who were too sick to obtain medical insurance before ACA or those who already hit their lifetime limits or those still on their parents insurance plans until 26. The Insurance Division has to verify requests for increases, so while HMSA and Kaiser may not go bankrupt, they may not be making additional money from ACA. And HMSA keeps rates down from participating doctors by limiting reimbursements, so doctors are likely not making more money. Sad thing is under Hawaii Pre-Paid Healthcare before ACE, Hawaii’s medical rates were actually lower than the mainland and with good coverage.
These increases were all predicted and was mostly avoidable. The ACA (aka Obamacare) was a disaster from the get go. If the country had just followed the lead Hawaii set with the Prepaid Healthcare Act, the pain would have been much less and we would have a healthcare system that actually worked. Shame on all those uninformed individuals that voted for the ACA.
We’re all subsidizing health care for 40+ million illegals on the mainland. Welcome to donkey-care you bunch of donkey voters! You wanted him, you pay now!!!
The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people’s money.
HMSA, Has to much control over their client’s medical plan’s and drug coverage’s, that pi$$es me of to no end, with their drug tier formula’s. The good drug’s have outrageous co-pay’s that a retiree like me simply cannot afford.
Thank you Obummer! What a legacy! Oh I wish you could be POTUS for another 4 years!