Obamacare premiums going up in Delaware

Obamacare health plans in Delaware just got more expensive.

The federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Service approved double-digit rate hikes submitted by the Delaware Department of Insurance for plans offered on the state’s health insurance marketplace.

Delaware Insurance Commissioner Karen Weldin Stewart released the 2016 health insurance rates Tuesday, saying that individual plan rates for Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield would increase 22.4 and by 16 percent for Aetna Life Insurance plans.

Highmark had previously requested 25.4 and 33 percent increases.

“My actuaries took a hard look at Highmark’s submitted rate request, and we were able to reduce it by 3.0%,” Stewart said in a release. “But Blue Cross franchisees across the country are making requests for increases of 25 percent or more, claiming the Affordable Care Act has unleashed pent-up demand by persons who have not seen a doctor for years. Regulators have been approving significant rate increases throughout the country.”

In the small group employer plan market, a 12.7 percent increase for Highmark was increased and a 6.1 percent decrease for Aetna was approved.

Previously, the department has said the increases would cause hardships on many Delawareans.

Weldin-Stewart said her department will work in future years to keep costs down.

Other states have also seen large increase requests. Blue Cross Blue Shield requested for rate increases of about 30 percent in Oklahoma, Tennessee and Minnesota.

Last year 25,036 Delawareans enrolled for coverage through the marketplace. Open enrollment for 2016 kicks off Nov. 1.

The hikes could be offset by financial assistance for those enrolled in the Affordable Care Act. About 83 percent of the people enrolled in plans this year qualified for a tax credit of about $260 per person, according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

And under marketplace plans preventive services like annual visits, vaccinations, and certain cancer screenings are available at no extra cost.

The state insurance department will post all rates on their website by Oct. 15. Details can be found at http://www.delawareinsurance.gov/departments/rates/ratefilings.shtml.