Only Cigna and ConnectiCare invited as Connecticut lawmakers weigh insurance rate hikes
"Our priority, our duty should be to Connecticut families and residents and small businesses, to protect them to make sure they don't have to pay more for health insurance and health care than they have to," Attorney General William Tong said. "And to ask, and to even require, the health insurance companies here today to do all they can to really serve their customers and not just extract as much as they can."
The annual insurance rate hearing hosted by the Connecticut Insurance Department was met with opposition from many Connecticut politicians due to the high rate increases requested by insurance providers.
Attorney General William Tong requested the hearing be postponed due to the Inflation Reduction Act passed by Congress on Friday. That bill would extend subsidies under the Affordable Care Act, which Tong says in a letter to Commissioner Andrew Mais would be a “game changer, and may significantly reduce the need for an increase” in insurance rates.
Mais began the meeting stating that the Insurance Department believes in transparency and receiving feedback from the public.
“This is never one of my favorite times of the year simply because I, my personal view, I think … health care should be a right, not a privilege,” Mais says.
Only two insurance carriers, Cigna and ConnectiCare, were invited to the hearing.
“These were the two that we asked to be here because their requests were significantly higher than the others,” Mais says. “We thought this would be the best with the limited time we have to really dig into the reasons for these increase requests.”
Tong was invited to ask questions directly to the insurance providers and was given 20 minutes. Before he began his questioning, he requested for the second time that a Uniform Administrative Procedure Act hearing be held instead.
Mais denies the request, stating, “This type of hearing that we are holding here today is a lot easier for members of the public to become a part of, to provide input as questions. As opposed to, as you know, there are strict procedures governing UAPA hearings. Again, we will take it under advisement, but we are looking forward to a frank and open exchange of views today.”
Addressing the insurance companies, Tong says Connecticut families are struggling due to inflation.
“Our priority, our duty should be to Connecticut families and residents and small businesses, to protect them to make sure they don’t have to pay more for health insurance and health care than they have to,” Tong says. “And to ask, and to even require, the health insurance companies here today to do all they can to really serve their customers and not just extract as much as they can.”
Tong was joined by many other Connecticut politicians opposing the rate increases.
U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal released a statement, saying “any premium increase in unacceptable. Connecticut consumers should not be hit with another humongous price increase in a necessity like health insurance.”
The hearing included state Sens. Saud Anwar, Matt Lesser, Kevin Kelly, Tong Hwang and Christine Cohen, and state Reps. Kerry Wood, Kate Farrar, Stephen Meskers, Holly Cheeseman, Anne Hughes, Robin Comey, Tom Delnicki, Kara Rochelle, Lucy Dathan, Tammy Nuccio and Cara Pavalock-D’Amato. All spoke out against the high rate increases.
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Mais says the rate increases requested by the providers will not necessarily be granted.
“I want to make sure everyone understands that our actuaries spend a couple of months delving into every aspect of this,” Mais says. “This is not, send it to us and we will rubber-stamp it. This is not a ‘we will accept your assumptions that says we will do what is best for consumers.’ We spend our time making sure that we base the approval rate increases on what is actually happening, what is needed. So the rates, and this is our charge under law, are not excessive, they’re not inadequate, and they’re not discriminatory.”