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Aetna cuts premium rates in Connecticut
■ Individual costs will be reduced by an average of 10%.
By Emily Berry — Posted June 1, 2011
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Nearly 10,000 Aetna customers in Connecticut will pay lower premiums for their health insurance beginning in September, in a rare case of rate reduction.
The lower premiums will affect 9,745 policyholders. Premiums will lower by between 5% and 19.5%, for an average of 10% decrease.
The Connecticut Dept. of Insurance approved the change May 19, marking the first documented time since the passage of health system reform that a company asked for, and received, lower rates.
The company expects to pay customers rebates for 2011 -- meaning it expects not to meet the medical spending minimums set under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, according to the department's executive summary of Aetna's application.
Under the health system reform law, insurers must pay at least 80% to 85% (depending on the plan) of every premium dollar on health care. If they do not meet that standard over the course of a year, they must pay back a portion of their customers' premiums the following year.
Aetna spokeswoman Susan Millerick would not confirm that the company plans to pay rebates.
"The Connecticut rate decrease reflects lower-than-anticipated medical costs in Connecticut," she said in a statement. "Rebates are still possible, but that will be assessed based on the full year of experience."
The Connecticut State Medical Society welcomed the news of Aetna's rate reduction. "The rate inflation we have seen that has occurred across the board is hopefully being put in check," said CSMS Executive Vice President Matthew Katz.
In 2010, the medical society helped lead public opposition to Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Connecticut's requested 20% rate increase on 48,000 of its individual customers, to begin in 2011. The state's acting insurance commissioner at the time denied Anthem's request.
Katz said the Anthem controversy and public attention to health insurance premiums helped pressure Aetna to adjust premiums downward. "Without the public scrutiny and, frankly, the threat of having to provide rebates, [Aetna] wouldn't have done it," he said.