Insurers file preliminary health exchange rates
The two insurers seeking to offer health plans on Maine’s state exchange submitted preliminary rate filings Wednesday, which the Portland Press Herald reported shows wide variation in rates between the state’s most urban and rural areas.
The paper reported a person buying insurance in Southern Maine under the standard plan proposed by Maine Community Health Options could pay nearly $100 less than a person in the northernmost parts of the state. Under a plan proposed by Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield, a person could pay around $40 more in the northern portion of the state.
Still, industry watchers say the documents don’t allow easy comparisons with existing plans.
The Maine Public Broadcasting Network reported the filings — comprising hundreds of pages — from Anthem and MCHO are difficult to compare. State regulators have approved the plans to be offered as part of an online insurance marketplace required in each state under the health care reforms of the federal Affordable Care Act. The federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services will have the final say over the plans.
Joe Ditre, executive director of Consumers for Affordable Health Care, told MPBN that the latest filings leave comparisons by insurance product difficult, which he said is “the exact opposite of what the Affordable Care Act envisioned.”
Ditre said companies should provide clear comparison sheets of their insurance products before upcoming public hearings on whether the two plans should make it onto the state exchange.
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