Anthem individual policyholders in Virginia can expect rate increases -- but nothing like the 39 percent increase hitting some Californians enrolled in Anthem individual policies.
The rates are stirring up advocates of health-care reform, including U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, who this week asked WellPoint Inc., parent company of Anthem, to justify the increases hitting some of the company's 800,000 individual policyholders in California.
Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Virginia in November submitted rate-increase requests for several of its individual plans, according to filings at the State Corporation Commission's Bureau of Insurance.
Those increases range from about 7 percent to 15 percent, and many come on top of double-digit rate increases last year.
A spokeswoman at the Bureau of Insurance said the rate-increase requests were reviewed and approved in accordance with Virginia laws and regulations governing individual accident and sickness rates.
Anthem spokesman Scott Golden said in an e-mail that "Virginia individual members will see some type of increase on renewal, but the average increase is significantly below what is being reported in California."
Some examples of those individual policy increases include:
•KeyCare Flexible Choice policyholders will see an average 7 percent rate increase effective April 1, with the annual average premium of $4,345 increasing by $296. The plan had 41,528 Virginia policyholders as of October, when rates rose an average of 15.3 percent. •Lumenos Health Savings Account policyholders will see a 15 percent average increase April 1. About 6,250 policyholders are affected. The estimated annual premium will go from $3,232 to $3,717 per policy after the increase. The plan raised rates 12 percent in December. •Essential KeyCare policyholders will see an average rate increase of 7.5 percent April 1. The estimated annual premium will go from $2,577 to $2,770 per policy. A total of 21,738 Virginia policyholders were enrolled in Essential KeyCare in October. There was an 8.5 percent average rate increase in November. •KeyCare HealthSmart and HealthSmart with Enhanced Drug policyholders will see an average rate increase of 7 percent April 1. The estimated annual premium will go from $4,024 to $4,306. There were 10,921 policyholders in October. The increase comes on top of a 20.5 percent average premium increase in December. WellPoint issued a five-page response to Sebelius' concerns that said, among other things, Anthem's California profit was in line with its competitors and that blamed market forces for the increases.
Premiums are far more volatile for individual policies than for those bought by employers and other large groups, which have bargaining clout and a sizable pool of people among which to spread risk.
As more people have lost jobs, many who are healthy have decided to go without health insurance or get a bare-bones, high-deductible policy, reducing the amount of premiums insurers receive.
Virginians and Californians are not alone in seeing rate increases.
"You're going to see rate increases of 20, 25, 30 percent" for individual health policies in the near term, predicted Sandy Praeger, chairwoman of the health insurance and managed care committee for the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. Most states don't have the legal authority to block or reduce health insurance rate increases, she noted.
Contact Tammie Smith at (804) 649-6572 or TLsmith@timesdispatch.com.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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