Matthew Patane

mpatane@dmreg.com

Iowa's insurance commissioner has approved three rate adjustments that will raise health insurance premiums for thousands of Iowans.

Commissioner Nick Gerhart said today that he has approved premium increases from Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield, CoOportunity Health and Coventry Health.

Des Moines-based Wellmark had sought a rate increase of between 11.9 percent and 14.5 percent for about 19,000 of its customers. That increase is for individual policyholders who have Affordable Care Act-compliant plans.

The dominant health insurer in Iowa, Wellmark is raising rates on about 250,000 policies. A vast majority of those rate increases are less than the 6.1 percent threshold that would require Gerhart's approval.

CoOportunity had initially requested a rate increase of 14.3 percent. That increase was later revised to 19 percent on average, the commissioner said.

Coventry requested an 8.7 percent rate increase on average.

CoOportunity and Coventry are the two main companies offering health insurance plans on the federal health care exchange. Wellmark said earlier this year that it will forgo joining the exchange for another year.

The three rate increases will go into effect Jan. 1.

A third-party firm had to review the proposed rate increases to deem them necessary before Gerhart could issue a decision. The Iowa Insurance Division also received public comments on the proposals and held public hearings.

All three carriers have said they need to raise rates to meet rising health care costs.