{"id":217824,"date":"2025-09-11T09:27:09","date_gmt":"2025-09-11T09:27:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/217824\/"},"modified":"2025-09-11T09:27:09","modified_gmt":"2025-09-11T09:27:09","slug":"insurance-department-approves-double-digit-rate-hikes-for-2026-health-plans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/217824\/","title":{"rendered":"Insurance department approves double-digit rate hikes for 2026 health plans"},"content":{"rendered":"

Officials with the Connecticut Insurance Department<\/a> announced Wednesday they have signed off on an average rate hike of 16.8% for 2026 state-regulated individual health plans<\/a>.<\/p>\n

They also approved an average increase of 11% on small group policies.<\/p>\n

The rate hikes come amid a flood of federal health policy changes, new cuts to Medicaid, tighter restrictions on care at community health centers and expiring federal subsidies.<\/p>\n

The plans collectively cover about 224,000 residents (158,000 in individual policies and 66,000 in small group).<\/p>\n

\u201cAll of us \u2013 regulators, consumers, and industry \u2013 have faced unprecedented uncertainty this year due to the federal government\u2019s pending changes to health care coverage,\u201d Insurance Commissioner Andrew Mais said in a statement.<\/p>\n

Insurers originally requested<\/a> an average rate increase of 17.8% on individual health plans. Insurance department officials said that number recently rose to 23% after factoring in the expiration<\/a> of enhanced federal subsidies, which will run out at the end of the year.<\/p>\n

Insurers had also asked for an average hike of 13.1% on small group plans.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to figure out a way to address this, because these double-digit increases every year are not sustainable for families,\u201d Sen. Jorge Cabrera, D-Hamden, co-chair of the legislature\u2019s Insurance Committee, said Wednesday. \u201cWith housing, the cost of living, wages not keeping up, the impact of these tariffs<\/a> \u2013 which is going to make everything more expensive \u2013 and now you add this, it\u2019s going to be unsustainable.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThese double-digit increases reflect a badly broken system that we cannot afford to ignore,\u201d Attorney General William Tong said in a statement. \u201cThe insurers, the hospitals, the pharmacy benefit managers have zero incentive right now to negotiate lower costs for Connecticut families. Too many families are drowning in these ballooning premiums, deductibles, coinsurances and copays.\u201d<\/p>\n

Three insurers sell plans through the state\u2019s exchange, known as Access Health CT: Anthem Health Plans, ConnectiCare Insurance Company and CTCare Benefits Inc.<\/p>\n

Anthem asked for\u00a0an average rate hike of 14.2% for individual policies (later adjusted to 18.6% to reflect expiring subsidies) that cover 83,790 people. It was granted an average increase of 13.6% (with rate hikes ranging from 6.1% to 22.5%, depending on the plan).<\/p>\n

ConnectiCare sought an average increase of 26.1% (later adjusted to 34.5%) for individual policies that cover 3,685 residents. The insurance department signed off on a 20.3% average hike.<\/p>\n

And CTCare Benefits requested an average increase of 21.7 % (later adjusted to 28.5%) for individual plans that cover 70,160 people. A 20.6% average hike was approved.<\/p>\n

Anthem also sought a 13.2% average hike for its small group plans that include 48,666 residents. It was granted an average increase of 11.2%.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would thank the insurance department for reducing the rates from what was initially requested, but I think they\u2019re still too high,\u201d said Karen Siegel, deputy director for Health Equity Solutions. \u201cThese increases are going to be difficult to impossible for families to accommodate, and people will lose coverage. Given all the changes coming to the [insurance] marketplaces in the next few years, rates are going to continue to go up, and the state has an obligation to contain costs.\u201d<\/p>\n

Insurers have cited rising health care costs, including the price of prescription drugs and greater demand for medical services, as reasons they sought rate increases.<\/p>\n

Stephanie DuBois, a spokeswoman for Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield in Connecticut, said the company\u2019s request this year was due to more policyholders needing higher cost services, including emergency department visits.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur submitted ACA rates are based on the health care services we expect members to access next year, along with the anticipated costs associated with that care,\u201d she said. \u201cSpecifically, there has been an increase in ACA members utilizing higher-cost services, including emergency room care and behavioral health services, as well as some prescription drugs and specialty pharmacy. These rates also reflect our ability to deliver on behalf of consumers in Connecticut given the changes at the federal level.\u201d<\/p>\n

Insurers had bigger rate hike proposals this year than in 2024. Last year, insurance companies\u00a0asked for<\/a>\u00a0an average rate hike of 8.3% on individual plans and 11.9% on small group. The state approved an<\/a> average increase of 5.9% on individual policies and 7.8% on small group.<\/p>\n

Jenna Carlesso is a reporter for the Connecticut Mirror. Copyright 2025 @ CT Mirror (Ctmirror.org).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Officials with the Connecticut Insurance Department announced Wednesday they have signed off on an average rate hike of…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":88673,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[26859,2738,13332,59420,21591,7000,47557,210,1141,1142,55045,41772,30570,7337,728,3170,10494,290,277,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-217824","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-health-care","8":"tag-rate","9":"tag-connecticut","10":"tag-cost","11":"tag-courant","12":"tag-coverage","13":"tag-ct-news","14":"tag-federal-cuts","15":"tag-health","16":"tag-health-care","17":"tag-healthcare","18":"tag-hike","19":"tag-husky","20":"tag-increase","21":"tag-insurance","22":"tag-local-news","23":"tag-medicaid","24":"tag-premiums","25":"tag-state","26":"tag-trump","27":"tag-united-states","28":"tag-unitedstates","29":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115184955727093781","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/217824","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=217824"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/217824\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/88673"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=217824"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=217824"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=217824"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}