Open enrollment is right around the corner for most people that have health insurance. Most of the employers have a January 1st renewal with the open enrollment period a month prior. The Individual market open enrollment is Nov.1st -December 15th.
Indiana has become one of the most expensive states for health care; this was revealed by the RAND Corporation study on Hospital Prices in Indiana. From a health insurance standpoint, we have seen the major carriers start to renegotiate their reimbursement prices to all medical providers. This created network disruptions in multiple Insurance carrier networks, and we believe this trend will continue into 2020.
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) small group market will experience a single-digit rate increase. Anthem is increasing 7%, UnitedHealthcare is 9%, and IU Health plan is about 8%. The small group ACA market is now unaffordable for most small employers and employees to carry to dependent coverage.
The level-funded or partially self-funded should stabilize in 2020. In the last couple of years, we have seen many carriers enter the Indiana market. Most of these plans came from smaller companies that did not have a lot of experience in Indiana. They were able to go in, and essential write low-risk groups and small Indiana employers have benefited from the lower rates. Now that these carriers have experience in Indiana, they are not as aggressive, and this has a lot to do with our cost of care.
With the Introduction on Anthem’s Multiple Employer Welfare Arrangement (MEWA), this adds another option for Indiana small employers that have low risk. Another company called All Savers, which is owned by UnitedHealthcare, offers a small group plan that is also underwritten, which can be very competitive. It’s fair to say that there are multiple options for Indiana small group employers.
The individual market is more of the same under the Affordable Care Act. With just two carriers offering coverage in the Individual market both plans must be purchased through the exchange. CareSource premiums will increase as high as 25% and decrease as low as 15%. Ambetter premiums will have an increase of as high as 28% and a decrease as small at 3.5%. Depending on which county you live in and what plan designs you select will determine what kind of increase you will have for 2020.
One change to the individual market that is worth looking at is the short-term policies. Short term policies have been an option for Hoosiers that needed coverage for a short period, and that was healthy. For 2020, we are now going to have short term health insurance that is has a term of two years. These policies are subject to underwriting, but for Hoosiers that are healthy and not eligible for tax credits on the exchange, this is an option worth looking at.
