State regulators grant nearly all the price hikes requested by insurance companies
By Lynne Terry, Oregon Capital Chronicle
The price of individual and small business health insurance plans will jump again next year — and two by double digits that could leave people paying nearly $700 more a year for their monthly premiums.
After seeking public comment, officials with the state Division of Financial Regulation said Sept. 5 they approved an average 8% rate hike for individual plans sold on the federal marketplace — just 1% lower than what the companies requested earlier this year. The division also approved an average 12% rise for small company plans, which basically was what the companies had requested, according to figures published Thursday.
PacificSource Health Plans will have the biggest increase on the individual market at just over 11%, while regulators approved more than a 16% rate hike for small business plans sold by Providence Health Plan.
Andrew Stolfi, Oregon’s insurance commissioner, indicated that state officials are pleased with how the rate process worked out.
“The health insurance market is competitive with five carriers offering plans in every Oregon county (in) 2025, which gives Oregonians more options to shop for plans to fit their budget,” Stolfi said in a statement.
The latest quarterly data shows that nearly 170,000 people in Oregon have purchased their own health insurance, mostly on the federal marketplace. The online portal allows individuals to obtain subsidies to pay for premiums and other costs, usually in the form of a tax credit. About 150,000 people are covered by group plans.
Division analysts spent months reviewing the rate requests and lowered the few that did not fit allowed parameters. After that, the division also sought public comment on the rates. Oregonians may be resigned to continual rate hikes. Only one person commented, posting the same statement five times: “These rate increases are terrible,” the anonymous commenter said. “I already have many people who bail on the marketplace because it is still too expensive for their income level. There will be more and more people who will go uninsured because of this.”
Dive deeper
For more information on the rate process, check the state’s Consumer Guide to 2025 Health Insurance Rate Filings and the Consumer Guide to Health Insurance Rate Review.
These rates are the first since Oregon wound down its review of the eligibility of Medicaid members. During the pandemic, the state did not kick anyone off the free insurance if their income rose under a federal agreement. But that agreement ended in 2023, and states started that May to review their rolls and remove anyone who no longer met the low-income requirements. About 230,000 Oregonians have lost the free health insurance, though as of last month, the state had the highest retention rate in the country. State officials have moved about 23,000 people who no longer qualify for Medicaid benefits to a new plan that essentially extends the free insurance to people who earn just a bit more than allowed under traditional Medicaid.
It’s unclear how many people booted from Medicaid have obtained insurance through an employer or how many have signed up on the federal marketplace. The federal government has not shared those figures. But the latest quarterly individual enrollment figures indicate that thousands in Oregon who lost Medicaid may no longer have health insurance.
People can enroll in health insurance at any time during a “qualifying life event,” such as a marriage, having a baby or losing health coverage. For others, open enrollment runs from Nov. 1 to Jan. 15 this year.
Lynne Terry has more than 30 years of journalism experience, including a recent stint as editor of The Lund Report, a highly regarded health news site. She reported on health and food safety in her 18 years at The Oregonian, was a senior producer at Oregon Public Broadcasting and Paris correspondent for National Public Radio for nine years.
