HCFANY’s comments on the 2018 rate requests made by insurance companies in our individual market are now available – you can find each letter here. Comments are available for 10 companies: Affinity, CareConnect, Fidelis, Healthfirst, Health Now, HIP/Emblem, MetroPlus, MVP, Oscar, and United.

Any insurance company that wants to sell individual or small group plans on the New York State of Health must seek permission from the New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS) for their proposed 2018 rates. In New York, the public gets to participate in this process. If you are a member of one of those plans, you received a letter last month informing you that your plan requested a rate increase and explaining that you can weigh in.

There is still time to comment – the public comment period ends this Sunday, July 9. HCFANY created a guide to writing your comments, available here. You can also look at our own comments for inspiration. The first half of each letter explains the issues that HCFANY believes affect every carrier in New York. The second half provides our take on what the insurance companies said in their applications.

In some of the letters, we quote other consumers who have already used the DFS website to say what they think about their plan’s request. You can find all of those comments by going to the DFS website (here) and finding your insurance company on the left-hand side. Once you select your company, you can navigate to their application and see what everyone else is saying.

DFS wants to hear from you! When you are ready to submit your comments, click here.