[V]ermonters and consumer advocates urged state regulators Tuesday to prevent health insurance companies from hiking rates for Vermont Health Connect health plans next year, arguing that continued increases in insurance costs will stifle their access to care.
Both Blue Cross and Blue Shield Vermont and MVP Health Care have asked the Green Mountain Care Board, the panel that regulates health care spending, for large rate increases in 2020 to offset rising costs in the health care industry.
Blue Cross Blue Shield is asking the board for an average rate increase of about 14.5%, and MVP is asking for an 11% increase for its plans offered on the state health insurance exchange, Vermont Health Connect.
A public hearing on the rate hikes held by the Green Mountain Care Board Tuesday evening at Montpelier City Hall drew dozens who spoke out against the insurers’ requests.
Before the hearing, members of the Vermont Workers’ Center, which advocates for low-income employees, stood outside City Hall protesting, and calling on board members to reject the rate hikes.
“I know I’m personally in this place, and so many people are in this place where we already cannot afford health insurance, or can barely afford it,” said Anders Aughey, a member of the center. “And I don’t understand how rates can keep going up.”
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Before the public hearing, Blue Cross Blue Shield made its case before the care board for its proposed rate increased in hours of testimony.
The insurer says the bulk of the requested increase comes from mounting costs in the health care industry, particularly rising prescription drug prices.
Blue Cross projects that one of its leading cost drivers in 2020 will be coverage of prescription drugs administered to patients at hospitals and outpatient care facilities.
Company officials estimate the cost of pharmaceuticals will be up 15% next year, as hospitals in Vermont are more frequently administering high-cost specialty medications for serious conditions, like cancer.
“Here’s a case where affordability is sacrificed because we need to make sure these drugs are available,” Paul Schultz, Blue Cross’ actuarial director, told the board.
The insurer wants to raise rates, too, so it can boost reserve funds, which have started to deplete in recent years.
That’s because, the company says, the care board hasn’t approved its full rate increase requests in the past five years, and revenues from premiums haven’t been enough to cover hikes in health care expenses, administrative costs, and taxes.
“What we’ve seen since 2014 is that the premium approved by the Green Mountain Care Board hasn’t been high enough to cover these major things,” said Sara Teachout, director of Government, Public and Media Relations for BCBS.
Last year, the care board cut Blue Cross’ rate hike from the 9.6% requested to 5.8%, and MVP’s from 10.9% to 6.6%.
At the public hearing, Graham Unangst-Rufenacht, a field organizer with Rural Vermont, an organization that advocates for workers in Vermont’s food and agricultural sectors, said that while he understands that costs in the health care industry are rising, insurers shouldn’t force consumers to shoulder the added expense.
“We feel it’s unjust and inequitable to pass along these costs of these problems to the rate-paying public, when most of this industry … enjoys profits and salaries well above that of most Vermonters,” he told the care board Tuesday evening.
Many argued that workers could not afford the rate increases because they haven’t seen and won’t see pay raises.
“I’m not getting any 10% raise this year, my colleagues aren’t getting any 10% raise this year, my clients are certainly not getting that raise either,” said Christina Pasnick, a social worker.
“We all most certainly cannot afford the rising health care costs that are being proposed.”
Amy Lester, a small business owner from Plainfield, said that the proposed rate increases would “destroy any chance” of expanding her company, and eat into her take-home pay.
“There’s also a possibility I may choose to be uninsured,” she added, “which is a risk this 52-year-old may have to take.”
The Green Mountain Care Board will issue a decision on proposed rate increases next month.