That’s right – its health insurance rate review time! This means that our health insurance plans are now diligently submitting their proposed rate increases to the Department of Financial Services (DFS) for approval.  Some of you may have already received a letter from your health plan letting you know that they plan to “adjust” your premium rate.  Health plans are required to give you 120 days notice of any proposed rate increases (and 60 days notice before the approved increase goes into effect).

It’s up to DFS to decide whether the proposed rate increases are necessary.  Comments and objections from policyholders and the public can be submitted for up to 30 days after a health plan submits its application for an increase.  You can find any pending rate increase applications, and supporting documentation, on the DFS website by clicking here.

HCFANY is, of course, on top of this and is once again submitting comments on proposed rate increases.  First on the agenda is Oxford/United Healthcare, which is requesting rate increases of between 15.1% and 46.5% for its various small groupproducts.  After combing through the supporting documentation provided by the plan – particularly around medical trend and member migration – we are not convinced that that increases of this magnitude are necessary.  Our recommendation to the DFS is that the proposed rate increases be denied.

Click here to read HCFANY’s comment to the DFS in response to the proposed rate increase for Oxford Health Plans (NY), Inc., Oxford Health Insurance, Inc., and UnitedHealthcare Insurance Company of New York.

If you’d like to submit your own comments to the DFS, you can do so online by clicking here, or via regular mail to:

Mr. Charles Lovejoy
Health Bureau
New York State Department of Financial Services
25 Beaver Street
New York, NY 10004