HHS to Consider Health Rate Increases Over 10 Percent "Unreasonable"

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has proposed a rule under which health insurance increases that average 10 percent or more would be considered "unreasonable" for individual and small group policies. HHS estimates that in 2011, more than half of the rate filings in the individual market and 20 percent to 40 percent in the small-group market would be deemed "unreasonable," according to a new Health Policy Brief from Health Affairs and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. This indicates that rate filings will be subject to review by a state authority or HHS to determine if the planned increase is appropriate. Starting from 2014, states will also be able to exclude insurers with a history of requesting excessive increases from the new state health insurance exchanges. Most states and the District of Columbia have the ability and the authority to conduct insurance rate reviews. But under the Affordable Care Act, if a state is not able to do so, HHS will conduct the review instead.

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