State Insurance Premiums To Drop By Two Percent

Insurance premiums sold through the Arkansas Health Insurance Marketplace, the state exchange created as a result of the Affordable Care Act, are projected to decrease by a net of 2% in 2015, Gov. Mike Beebe’s office announced today in a press release.

The rates for the Arkansas Health Insurance Marketplace were accidentally posted on the Arkansas Insurance Department’s Rate Review Division website last week and then removed. The release said the information was being published as a result of that posting.

“While not drastically different from actual projections, the posting was still not an accurate representation of the actuarial data,” the release said.

The department will release final rates once filings by Arkansas’ insurance providers are certified by the federal Department of Health and Human Services. That certification is expected before the open enrollment period for 2015 begins on November 15.

The release announced that premiums offered through the private option will decrease slightly “but will essentially remain flat in comparison to 2014.”

The private option was created by the Legislature after the U.S. Supreme Court said states could choose whether or not to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. Arkansas legislators created a hybrid approach, instead using those federal dollars to purchase private insurance for lower income Arkansans on the exchange.

The release said that the projections are based on aggregate totals, and that some consumers’ premiums will rise while others will see cost decreases of more than 2%.