Joel Ario Comments on Initial Health Plan Rate Announcements
"Experts Split on Impact of Initial Rate Announcements"
Health Exchange Alert
May 29, 2013 – Manatt's Joel Ario, a managing director with Manatt Health Solutions, spoke to Health Exchange Alert on the challenges health insurers faced when proposing 2014 health plan rates under the new health reform law.
As reported by Health Exchange Alert, two insurers in Oregon requested to refile their proposed 2014 rates after finding out they were much higher than competitors'. Supporters of the health reform law think the law is already spurring more transparency around plan pricing and competition. However, other industry insiders told the publication that Oregon's situation is unlikely to be widespread, especially in states with heavily consolidated markets.
Ario said he does not know of any precedent where there has been a huge rate filing by carriers and then soon thereafter, once the information has been made public in a searchable database, the carriers with the highest rates request to refile. Ario said that carriers do have it tough for the first year of the ACA's market reforms because they are trying to price in an unprecedented environment and there is a lot of variation in proposed rates for next year, but he also believes there could be more Oregon-like behavior because there will be much more price transparency and consumers will be able to get much more information about rates.