Paperwork filed by five health insurers gives Arizona its first glimpse of how much President Barack Obama’s health-care law will cost consumers when they begin shopping for mandatory coverage next month.
Major health insurers that have filed rate plans with the Arizona Department of Insurance signal that average monthly rates under the Affordable Care Act will range from $225 to $334 when the federal health-insurance marketplaces launch Oct. 1. Companies filing rate plans were Aetna, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona, Cigna, Health Net and Meritus Health Plan, formerly called Compass Health Cooperative.
The filings suggest Arizona consumers will be able to choose from a variety of plans during the six-month enrollment period with monthly rates that will range from less than $100 to more than $1,700. Those rates are before federal, sliding-scale subsidies kick in for those who earn up to 400 percent of the federal poverty level, so most consumers will pay less than the monthly rates.
Unlike other states that have released detailed rate information, the Arizona filings do not compare how much rates under the new health-care law will compare with existing rates paid by individuals and small businesses. Contacted separately, the health insurers would not provide comparable rate information.
Beyond the monthly rates, called premiums, consumers must evaluate out-of-pocket costs such as copayments, deductibles and coinsurance. Plans with lower monthly premiums will require consumers to pay for a larger share of health bills from doctors and hospitals and for prescription drugs.
Meritus Health Partners, a non-profit cooperative health-insurance plan, filed to sell plans on the individual marketplace and the new small-business health-options program, or SHOP.
“We heard from consumers and what they thought affordable was,” said Kathleen Oestreich, CEO of Meritus. “We tried to position our (rates) in the lower third or the middle third of the market.”
In all, more than 1 million Arizonans will be eligible to shop for plans over the online marketplaces or get covered by Medicaid, the government-funded health-insurance plan for low-income residents. Most people without health insurance must obtain coverage or pay a fine.
Eight health-insurance companies have filed paperwork with the state’s Department of Insurance, but just the five contained detailed rate information that includes average monthly rates, the most and least expensive plans and the total in premiums that insurers expect to collect from health-insurance plans sold over the government’s website, www.healthcare.gov. Health insurers that plan to sell HMO-style plans over the marketplaces are not required to disclose rates to Arizona regulators, according to Erin Klug, ADOI spokeswoman.
Reach the reporter at ken.alltucker@arizonarepublic.com or 602-444-8285.
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