Posted at: 11/16/2009 4:38 PM | WHEC.com
By: Will Astor
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MVP plans double-digit hike for community-rated plans
From our news partners at the Rochester Business Journal
MVP Health Care plans to hike rates for Rochester-area community-rated group-plan premiums by 12 percent to 25 percent in 2010, MVP officials said Monday. The increase compares with a 10 percent to 18.9 percent spread Excellus Blue Cross Blue Shield announced for its 2010 community-rated plan increases.
MVP officials cited the following among the reasons for the double-digit increases:
- Higher New York taxes and assessments;
- Increased use of health care services in part encouraged by federal expansion and subsidy of COBRA and a spike in H1N1 flu cases;
- New federal rules requiring parity of mental health and substance abuse benefits; and
- Bigger than anticipated increases in payments to hospitals, physicians and other providers.
Lumping together community-rated and experience-rated subscribers, Excellus on Nov. 2 expressed its average increase as 5.7 percent. MVP officials dismissed the number as meaningless because it fails to note how many are in community-rated versus experience-rated plans.
In experience rating, each group’s rate is based on its previous year’s claims. In community rating, a number of groups are put in a risk pool and charged rates based on an average of all members’ experience.
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