Washington state officials have successfully filled the last county that was facing no subsidized health insurance options on the Obamacare exchange heading into the next open enrollment.
“After several weeks of discussions, I am pleased that two insurers have stepped up to offer insurance in Klickitat County next year,” Washington’s insurance commissioner, Mike Kreidler, said in a statement.
Molina Healthcare of Washington and BridgeSpan Health Co. will offer plans on the state’s exchange, called Washington Healthplanfinder. Without their entry, residents who do not receive coverage from the government or from an employer would not have had an option to buy private coverage that the federal government helps pay for under Obamacare.
Kriedler previously worked to fill another empty county, Grays Harbor, that was facing the prospect of having no insurers on the exchange.
“This is great news for the people Klickitat County,” Kriedler said. “We’ve worked diligently to see if we could convince the insurers to reconsider both Grays Harbor and Klickitat counties. I think we all shared concern for the people in these areas and were worried about them not having any coverage options next year, aside from the state’s high-risk pool.”
State officials also are reviewing insurance requests for double-digit rate hikes on premiums by insurers that are participating in the exchange. If approved, under Obamacare most customers who sign up for the plans would receive a tax subsidy to make up for price difference and won’t personally feel the impact of the premium hike. Full premium increases, however, could affect anyone who makes more than $48,240 for an individual and $98,400 for a family of four.
The news comes amid debate as the Senate debates its healthcare bill, which would repeal and replace portions of Obamacare. Health officials in Washington state have said the uncertainty has contributed to difficult results on the exchange, including insurer exits and big proposed increases for premiums.
Last year, insurers in Washington asked for a 13.5 percent increase on premium rates, and on average states asked for rate increases of 22 percent across the country for mid-level plans. At the time, analysts blamed a mix of factors, including insurers initially pricing their plans too low, Republicans defunding federal dollars set to go to insurers, and not enough young, healthy people enrolling in the plans to balance out risk pools.
Though the unbalance continues to contribute to higher rate requests, insurers also have said that the uncertainty over the future of Obamacare is weighing into their decision making. They don’t know if the Trump administration will enforce the individual mandate that obligates people purchase insurance or if it will pay out billions of federal dollars to help insurers offer lower out-of-pocket costs to customers.
