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State Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler is again requesting legislation to restore his ability to regulate rates in the individual health insurance market.
“Eight years have passed since this law took effect,” Kriedler stated. “Meanwhile, the carriers are making record profits, and consumers have seen their rates jump an average of 16 percent per year.”
Kriedler’s authority over individual health plans was revoked by the Legislature in 2000 in a deal meant to salvage the individual health insurance market in our state. In exchange for a pledge from the carriers to continue doing business in this market, four key changes were made: the health carriers were allowed to off-load the sickest eight percent of applicants to the state’s high-risk pool; the pre-existing condition waiting period grew from three months to nine; health carriers can replace a product on 90 days’ notice; the Insurance Commissioner lost authority to dictate rates. |
