Yes, kids – for many of us it’s that time of year again! Health insurance companies have been furiously sending notices out informing folks that they once again want to raise the cost of health insurance plans.  For some,  this means proposed percentage increases well into the double digits!

Thankfully, the recently reinstated “prior approval” process in New York means that health insurers are not only required to inform us of those rate increases in time for us to respond to them, but the State Department of Insurance (SDOI) now has to approve those price hikes before they can go into effect (this used to not be the case!).

So, what can you do about it? Well, for one, the SDOI has been posting all of the proposed rate increases on their website, along with copies of notices sent to enrollees and, in some cases, also summaries with the insurance company’s own explanation for WHY they want to raise rates as well.

What’s more, the SDOI is making it easy for folks to tell them what they think about these rate increases and even posting people’s comments submitted onto the website.  These comments will be taken into consideration during the approval process, so it’s important to speak up!  If you’ve received one of these insurance notices in the mail and disagree (or agree?) with the proposed price hikes, go to the SDOI website and submit your 2¢ on the matter by either commenting directly on the site, or sending in your comments via mail.

Here’s the info below:

To find the proposed insurance rate increases, go here: http://www.ins.state.ny.us/health/prior_app/prior_app_requested.htm

To find copies of notices, summaries explaining why they want to raise prices, or copies of other people’s comments submitted, go here: http://www.ins.state.ny.us/health/prior_app/prior_app_rate_change_details.htm

To submit your own comment, go here: http://www.ins.state.ny.us/health/prior_app/prior_app_comment.htm

Or send in your comments via snail mail to:

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