Thanks to continued uncertainty surrounding the Affordable Care Act (ACA), healthcare premiums for ACA plans in New Jersey will be increasing again in 2018.
Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey, the state’s largest insurer, has requested double-digit premium increases of 22 percent on average, which is three times what it requested last year and the largest request since the ACA took effect in 2014. AmeriHealth, the only other insurer offering ACA plans, has requested premium hikes that range from 6 percent to 59 percent. However, AmeriHealth representatives have also announced that they may have to reconsider whether to participate in the exchange due to the continuing uncertainty stemming from federal action and inaction.
Key points of frustration include the threat from President Trump about cutting off federal funding for cost-sharing reduction payments to insurers, which help offset the lower-priced plans for low-income policyholders, and the loosened enforcement of the individual mandate. Both of these things are helping drive costs up for another year, a problem for health insurance companies nationwide.
At this point, New Jersey’s Department of Banking and Insurance must approve the rate requests from insurers. Time is dwindling, with open enrollment to begin on Nov. 1.
