Health insurance companies have requested to raise rates an average of 20% on individual plans next year higher than last year’s increase. State elected and appointed officials from both parties on Monday urged the state’s Insurance Department to reject the rate increase at a public hearing.
In addition to the substantial average increase on individual plans, insurers who sell policies on and off Connecticut’s Affordable Care Act Exchange are seeking an average hike of 14.8% on small group plans.
Connecticut insurers defend rate hike requests during public hearing insurancenewsnet.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from insurancenewsnet.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Mike Smith counts himself as lucky. When, at 21, he discovered a golf ball-sized tumor on his neck, he had health coverage and a support system to back him up.
“I was lucky because it was only stage 2A when I was diagnosed,” said Smith, now 35. “I was lucky that my mom worked a job that provided good quality health insurance. Otherwise, I’d still be crawling out of the nearly million dollars in medical care needed to keep me alive. But we shouldn’t leave the health and the financial fate of our family, friends and neighbors to luck.”