The second insurance provider participating in Vermont’s health exchange has requested a 15.4 percent increase in its average annual premiums for 2015.
MVP Health Care submitted the rate request in a filing with the Green Mountain Care Board on Monday. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Vermont, the other participant in Vermont Health Connect, requested a 9.8 percent average increase.
MVP’s proposal would increase the monthly, unsubsidized premium for a single person buying its silver plan by $76.84, or 18 percent, over the 2014 rate. The monthly cost of MVP’s lowest-cost plan, the bronze, would increase $61.59, or 18.3 percent, under the proposal.
The cost of MVP’s two high-deductible plans, silver HD and bronze HD, would go up the least at 10.7 percent and 10.8 percent, respectively.
MVP’s request cited the cost of prescription drugs among the reasons for the sharp increase, as did Blue Cross’ filing.
“We understand that a premium is more than a number, and that any increase will directly affect individuals who purchased coverage on Vermont’s health insurance exchange. Sadly, the rapidly-rising price of health care services in Vermont, coupled with a sharp hike in prescription drug costs, federal taxes, and an enormous slash in federal reimbursement rates, make the economics of providing coverage unsustainable in 2015 without premium increases,” MVP Interim CEO Karla Austen said in a statement. “In the next few months, MVP is committed to working with the Green Mountain Care Board to review our proposal in depth.”
The Green Mountain Care Board has 90 days to review and adjust the rate requests, which take effect Jan. 1.
